What work is prohibited for children under compulsory school age?

There are types of work that are specifically forbidden or restricted by national legislation. These include:

• Street trading- however a local authority can make byelaws to allow 14 year olds to work for their parents in street trading.

• Industrial undertakings- unless they are working with members of the family. Industrial undertakings include mines, quarries, and other mineral extraction works, manufacturing or construction work and transport of passengers or goods by road, rail or inland waterway.

• Performing abroad- unless a licence has been granted by the justice of peace.

• Scrap metal- a child under the age of 16 cannot be employed to sell scrap metal.

• Betting shops- a child under the age of 18 cannot work in a betting shop.

• Petrol stations- the Home Office has recommended that no one under the age of 16 should be permitted to serve petrol, however, this is a recommendation and therefore not legally enforceable.

• Charitable collections- a child under the age of 16 may not take part in collecting money house to house for charitable purposes

The type of work that a child is prohibited from doing will vary from local authority to local authority according to the byelaws. You should always check with your local authority to make sure that they allow a child to work. However, you can expect that most authorities will normally ban the following employment:-

• working in a cinema, theatre, discotheque, dance hall or night club, except in connection with a performance given entirely by children;

• selling or delivering alcohol, except in sealed containers;

• delivering milk;

• delivering fuel oils;

• working in a commercial kitchen;

• collecting or sorting refuse;

• any work which is more than 3 meters above ground level or, in the case of internal work, more than 3 metres above floor level;

• work involving harmful exposure to physical, biological or chemical agents;

• collecting money, selling or canvassing door to door, except under the supervision of an adult;

• any work involving exposure to adult material or in situations which are for this reason otherwise unsuitable for children;

• telephone sales;

• working in any slaughter house or in that part of any butcher's shop or other premises connected with the killing of live stock, butchery or the preparation of carcasses or meat for sale; or

• as an attendant or assistant in a fair ground or amusement arcade, or in any other premises used for the purpose of public amusement by means of automatic machines, games of chance or skill or similar devices.

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