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Kent County Council is responsible for registering all
child employment in Kent, and for monitoring the effects of work on
the health and education of children. There are strict regulations
governing child employment rights and eligibility which you should
be aware of.
What employment legislation applies to children?
The legislation is set out in The Children and Young Persons Act
1933 as amended by the Children (Protection at Work) Regulations
1998/2000 and supplemented by KCC Byelaws under Section 18 of the
1933 Act. You can read more detailed information on this
legislation in our booklet
What you need to know about child employment. You can download
a copy of the booklet here or request a copy from your Local
Education Office. It establishes the restrictions on the nature of
work that children may undertake, restrictions on the hours of
work, procedures for registering child employment and provision for
penalties against employers breaching the legislation.
Basic Guide to Child Employment Legislation
Here are some of the key points of information about children in
employment. This is intended as a guide only and is not exhaustive.
For more detailed information please see our booklet.
- No child can work until they are 13 years old,
not even if they are employed by their parents/guardians
- No child of compulsory school age is allowed to work
before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on any day of the
week. On a school day, a child can work for a maximum of
two hours per day (excluding school hours) either
one hour before school and one after school, or two hours after
school
- No child is allowed to work more than two hours on a
Sunday. On Saturdays, 13-14 year olds can work a
maximum of 5 hours, and 15-16 year olds can work a maximum of 8
hours
- During term time, no child may work more than
a total 12 hours per week
- During school holidays, children aged 13-14
can work a total of 25 hours per week. Their maximum number of
hours of employment on any day except Sunday is 5 hours
- During school holidays, Children aged 15-16
can work a total of 35 hours per week. Their maximum number of
hours of employment on any day except Sunday is 8 hours
- Children must have a continuous two-week break
from employment during the year. This must be taken during school
holidays. Children must also have a break of at least one hour
after four hours continuous work
- Children over 16 who are still in Year 11 at
school will require a permit to be employed. There is only one
school leaving date in Year 11, which is the last Friday in June
each year.
What kinds of work can children do?
Children may only be employed in "light work". Depending upon
the age of the child, there are specified categories of work they
can undertake. You can read a full list of jobs that children can
and cannot do in our booklet "What you need to know about child
employment". You can download a copy of this booklet, or you can
request a paper copy from your Local Education Office.
Note: babysitting for friends and neighbours is
not classed as "employment".
There are separate regulations on
performance and modelling work. |