April marks Child Employment Month, with the Isle of Wight Council raising awareness of child employment legislation to ensure children engaged in part-time employment do so legally and safely.
The annual national awareness campaign highlights the law with regards to children of compulsory school age working part-time, and ensures young workers are protected, treated fairly and aware of their rights.
Children and young people can be employed in part-time work from the age of 13 to the end of compulsory school leavers age.
In order to work, a young person must have a work permit and it is the legal responsibility of the employer to apply for one.
It is illegal for a young person to work without one, and an employer can be prosecuted, fined and have their insurance invalidated if they employ a child without one.
The permits are free, valid for 12 months and easy to apply for.
Rachael Williams, the council’s education and inclusion manager, said:
“The welfare of children is paramount and if they are taking part in part-time work opportunities, we need to ensure their needs are being met by employers and that children who do work are doing so safely.
"Our officers regularly visit businesses across the Island to carry out checks on workplaces that may employ children of school age to make sure young people in part-time jobs are safe and working legally.
"An employer will be expected to present the child’s work permit upon inspection."
If anyone suspects a young person is working illegally either by working more hours than is permitted for their age (or later than 7pm), or undertaking work that is not permitted, you can report it anonymously to the council which will contact the employer to provide advice and support regarding child employment.
For more details on child employment and to make an application for a work permit, please visit the council’s website.
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