Child employment regulations

Children of compulsory school age are not allowed to work before 7am and after 7pm on any day.

Children under 13 are not allowed to be employed, in any capacity by any person (including parents and relatives) in Buckinghamshire.
There are 9 permitted types of employment for children aged 13.
Compulsory school age is until the end of Year 11 (final GCSE year). After that employment permits are not needed.
The school leaving date is the last Friday in June each year. This applies to every Year 11 child even if they are not actually 16 until the July or August of that school year.
Certain types and places of employment are prohibited.
A Health & Safety Risk Assessment should be completed for all working children their parents or guardian informed. The employer should pay attention to the young person's lack of experience in a workplace.
During a child’s first week at work the employer and parent, or guardian must complete an employment permit application form (downloadable below) and return it to legally register the child’s employment. Permission notes from schools or parents are not accepted.
If the place of work is in Buckinghamshire and the work meets the requirements of the legislation, we will issue and post one copy of the permit to the employer and one to the child, which should be kept safe as proof of registration.
If the place of work is not within the Buckinghamshire County Council's local authority area, application should be made to the appropriate local authority eg Milton Keynes or Oxfordshire.
If a child has more than one job each job needs to be registered separately, even if it's with the same employer.

Hours of work allowed - 13 & 14 years

Term time

Maximum 12 hours in any 7 day week.

Maximum 2 hours on any school day (1 hour between 7am and 8.30am plus 1 hour between the end of the school day and 7pm or 2 hours between the end of the school day and 7pm.

Saturday maximum 5 hours.

Sunday maximum 2 hours.

Holidays

Maximum 25 hours per week. 5 hours in any one day. Sunday 2 hours only.

Breaks

Every child is entitled/required to a minimum of 1 hours break after 4 hours continuous work.

Hours of work allowed - 15 & 16 Years

Term time

Maximum 12 hours in any 7 day week.

Maximum of 2 hours on any school day (1 hour between 7am and 8.30am plus 1 hour between the end of the school day and 7pm or 2 hours between the end of the school day and 7pm.

Saturday maximum 8 hours with 1 hour break after 4 hours continuous work.

Sunday maximum 2 hours.