EO - Employment and Children

Employment and Children

The following information is accurate. However, many local authorities have additional bye laws regulating the work of children. If you/your children are considering working, you should contact your local authority, usually the Education Welfare Service, who will be able to give you advice relevant to your area. All relevant legislation relates to children attending schools; again you should check with your local authority if they have bye laws which affect home educated young people working.

REGISTRATION

All young people must be registered with the Local Education Authority. The Employer needs to contact the Education Welfare Service to obtain the correct forms.

AGE

Children under the age of 13 years are not allowed to work (with the exception of in theatre/broadcasting - see section on Children in Entertainment). Legislation states that work should take place outside of the school day; therefore it could be interpreted that home educated young people should not work during what would normally be their study time. However, working hours should be after 7 am and before 7 pm.

Child's Age	Working Time	Working Hours
13 and 14 years old	'School Days'	A maximum of 2 hours per day outside of 'school' hours
	Saturdays	A maximum of 4 hours
	Sundays	A maximum of 2 hours
	'School Holidays'	A maximum of 4 hours per day, 20 hours per week

15 and 16 years old	'School Days'	A maximum of 2 hours per day outside of 'school' hours
	Saturdays	A maximum of 8 hours
	Sundays	A maximum of 2 hours
	'School Holidays'	A maximum of 8 hours per day, 30 hours per week

JOBS/WORKING ENVIRONMENT

There are some jobs and working environments where young people may not be employed.

	Jobs Not Allowed	Working Environments Not Allowed
	Selling alcohol	Billiard/Gaming Halls
	Selling on the street	Amusements Arcades
	Mobile Food Bar Work	Betting Shops
	Taking bets	Fairgrounds
	Using dangerous machinery	Markets
	Selling or Canvassing	Racecourse/tracks
	Door to door	Clubs and Pubs
	Any job involving gambling	Kitchens/Chip Shops
	Any job that may cause injury	Factories
	Photographic Modelling (unless licensed)	Warehouses
		Slaughter Houses
		Theatre/Cinema/Disco (unlessed licensed)

PAYMENT

There is no minimum payment for young people. The employer will set the rate of pay and it is for the young person and his/her family to determine whether this is fair.

Children in Entertainment

LEGISLATION

The legislation relating to children in entertainment concerns the health, proper treatment and education of children and applies to newborn babies up to when a child is no longer of compulsory school age. The primary legislation come from the Children and Young Persons Act of 1933 and 1963 (with later amendments). The 1963 Act allowed the Secretary of State to make Regulations that prescribe conditions to be met with respect to children taking part in performances. These Regulations are entitled The Children (Performance) Regulations 1968 (with later amendments). Regulation 10 is particularly concerned with Education.

DEFINITION

The term entertainment includes:

Taking part in a performance where the public pay to have access
Any performance on licensed premises (hotel, public house, etc)
Any broadcast performance
Any performance not included above but included in a programme service
Any performance which is being recorded for use in a broadcast, programme service or film
Taking part in modelling or sport for which the child or any other person receives payment.

The first five items are termed performances and also include certain rehearsals for performances. The final item is termed an activity, but they are all 'entertainment'.

CHILD'S ENTERTAINMENT LICENCE

Children taking part in entertainment require an Entertainment Licence issued by the child's Local Education Authority and applied for by the person who is responsible for the production or activity. This person is called the Licence Holder and is named on the child's licence. The licence relates to a named child and allows that child to take part in a particular performance or activity.

There are three exceptions to the requirement to obtain a licence. The first one relates to school children taking part in school productions, so not applicable to home educated young people. The other two exceptions are:

When the production is organised by an amateur group such as a youth club or amateur operatic society. The organisers of the group should apply and obtain permission from the Local Education Authority before a child can appear in their production.
When the child is taking part in no more than four performances in a six month period.

Whenever an Entertainment Licence is issued, there is a legal requirement that the child must be looked after (chaparoned) either by the child's own parent (parent cannot delegate this responsibility to any other person) or by a Matron who has been approved by the child's Local Education Authority. [Regulation 12(1)]

There may be, included in the licence, a condition to the effect that they must receive tuition during the event. The Licence Holder must provide a tutor who has been approved by the Local Education Authority, and a suitable place, approved by the Local Education Authority (in whose area the event is taking place) to receive the tuition. [Regulation14(1) & (2)]. The amount of tuition a child must receive is below.

If the child's performance is a recorded performance, and any period of recording on location exceeds one week, then, during each complete period of four weeks (or any period of less than four weeks but over one week) the number of tuition hours may be aggregated over that period. For the hours to be deemed satisfactory, the child:

Must not receive less than six hours tuition during each weekly period
Must not receive more than a maximum of five hours tuition on any one day
May be taught on days other than 'normal' school days

[Regulation 10 (4)]

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