During the school summer holidays, more young people will be considering getting their first taste of employment and looking for summer jobs. It can be a rewarding and productive experience to take them on but there are different rules that apply to them in comparison to adult workers.
The distinction between “children” and “young workers”
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) young workers are those who have “…attained the age of 15 but not the age of 18 and who […] are over compulsory school age”.
School leaving age varies depending on where the individual goes to school. For example, children can leave school on the last Friday in June if they will be 16 by the end of the summer holidays. Different rules are in place in Scotland and Wales. In England, it is compulsory for young people to remain in some form of education or formal training up to the age of 18 but they can do this alongside work, including full-time work. It is not an employer’s responsibility to ensure that a school leaver is complying with their requirement to remain in education or training until the age of 18.
For children to work (other than in performance, for example in a TV show), they must be at least 14; although 13-year-olds may be employed in certain exceptional circumstances.
Working hours rules for children and young workers
Children are limited to working 12 hours a week during term time and only two hours on school days and Sundays (and only one hour before school and never during school time). They can only work between 7am–7pm and must have an hour’s break if their shift lasts for more than four hours. They must also have a consecutive two-week period during the calendar year where they are not working and not at school. This is not classed as “annual leave” because they are not within scope of the Working Time Regulations; this means they do not need to paid for this time if it falls during a period where they are working for you.
14-year-olds are limited to working for a maximum of five hours a day on Saturdays and on weekdays in the school holidays and no more than 25 hours a week in the school holidays.
15 and 16-year-olds (under school leaving age) can work for eight hours a day on Saturdays and during the school holidays, up to a maximum of 35 hours a week (in the school holidays).
Young workers are subject to the WTR and so get the standard annual leave entitlement of 5.6 weeks. However, their breaks are different. They should get a 30-minute break for shifts over 4.5 hours, have a 12-hour rest break each day and they must have a single rest period of not less than 48 hours per week.
How the law is changing
The rules on employing young people in England will undergo significant changes when amendments in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 are implemented. The key changes include removing the existing restriction limiting children to working only two hours on a Sunday, allowing children to work longer hours on Sundays. In addition, a new requirement will be introduced for all employed children to have a “child employment permit” issued by the local authority.
