Rights of Young Workers – What an Employer Needs to Know

Teen summer employment has been on the rise in 2022, with openings more plentiful due to labour shortages in many sectors.

Employers seeking to hire younger employees must be mindful of relevant employment and health and safety legislation.

Working hours and rest breaks

Under employment law in Ireland, different rules apply to the employment or children and Young Persons. The Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act 1996 is designed to protect the health of young workers and ensure that work carried out during school years does not put young people's education at risk. The Act sets minimum age limits for employment, rest intervals and maximum working hours and prohibits the employment of anyone under 18 on late-night work. The Act also requires employers to keep specified records for workers under 18.

The Act generally applies to employees under 18 years of age. It defines children as being aged under 16 and young persons refers to those aged 16 and 17.

Under the Act, employers cannot employ children aged under 16 in regular full-time jobs. Children aged 14 and 15 may be employed:

• Doing light work during the school holidays but must have at least 21 days off work during this time
• As part of an approved work experience or educational programme where the work is not harmful to their health, safety or development
• In film, cultural, advertising work or sport under licences issued by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Children aged 15 may do 8 hours a week light work in school term time. The maximum working week for children outside school term time is 35 hours, or up to 40 hours if they are on approved work experience.

The maximum working week for young people aged 16 and 17 is 40 hours, with a maximum of 8 hours a day. If a young person under 18 works for more than one employer, the combined daily or weekly hours of work cannot exceed the maximum number of hours allowed. Young persons are only permitted to work between 6am and 10pm. Any exceptions to this rule must be provided by regulation.

For example, the Protection of Young Persons Act 1996 (Employment in Licensed Premises) Regulations 2001 permit young people employed on general duties in a licensed premises to be required to work up to 11pm on a day that does not immediately precede a school day during a school term where the young person is attending school.

Employers who employ young persons to carry out general duties in a licensed premises must have regard to the Code of Practice concerning the Employment of Young Persons in Licensed Premises.

Employers must see a copy of the young person's birth certificate, or other evidence of their age, before employing them. If the young person is under 16, the employer must get the written permission of the person's parent or guardian. 

Payment of young persons

Since this article was written, the national minimum wage increased to €12.70 per hour from 1 January 2024.

Workers under 18 are only guaranteed up to 70% of the national minimum wage, which is €8.89 per hour (from 1 January 2024).

Records

Employers must keep records for every employee under 18 that contain the following information:

• The employee's full name
• The employee's date of birth
• The employee's starting and finishing times for work
• The wage rate and total wages paid to the employee.

The employer must keep these records for at least 3 years.

Requirement to display official summary of the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act

Employees aged under 18 years must be given a copy of the official summary of the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, along with other details of their terms of employment, within one month of taking up a job. Employers with employees under 18 must also display the official summary of the Act at a place in their workplace where it can be easily read.

Health and Safety

Employers should in the first instance read the Health and Safety Authority’s Guidelines on the Protection of Children and Young Persons. These guidelines were amended in 2016 to take account of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Applications)(Amendment)(No.2) Regulations 2016.

There is an onus on employers to carry out a risk assessment before hiring employees under the age of 18 starts working. This includes trainees and work experience students.

Employers must assess risk arising from:

• lack of experience
• not being aware of existing or potential risks
• activities that may involve harmful exposure to biological and chemical agents

Under 18 year olds must not be employed if the risk assessment shows that the work:

• is beyond their physical or psychological capacity
• involves harmful exposure to agents which are toxic or carcinogenic
• involves harmful exposure to radiation
• involves the risk of accidents because of lack of experience or training
• is a health risk because of exposure to extreme heat, cold, noise or vibration

Health surveillance must be made available where a risk assessment reveals a risk to safety or health or to the physical or mental development of a child or young person, or before a young person is assigned night work.

Where health surveillance is completed for a child, the results must be shared with the child’s parent or guardian.

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, strongly emphasises the need to provide employees with instruction, information and training necessary to ensure their health and safety. Health and Safety training should form a core part of the induction process for all new hires and is especially important for young employees who may be new employment.

Further information is available from Ibec’s HRM Guide online at www.ibec.ie