Working hours & permitted work
The hours a young person can work, and the types of work they can do, are tightly limited by national law and Lambeth's Employment of Children Byelaws 2014. Every Second Corner placement is checked against these limits before it is offered.
Hours — aged 13 and 14
| Before school | Up to 1 hour, after 7am |
|---|---|
| After school | Up to 2 hours, before 7pm |
| Total on a school day | No more than 2 hours |
| Saturdays | Maximum 5 hours |
| Sundays | Maximum 2 hours |
| Total in a term-time week | Maximum 12 hours |
| School holidays (per day) | Maximum 5 hours, Monday–Saturday, 7am–7pm |
| School holidays (per week) | Maximum 25 hours |
Hours — aged 15 and 16
| Saturdays | Maximum 8 hours |
|---|---|
| Sundays | Maximum 2 hours |
| School holidays (per day) | Maximum 8 hours, Monday–Saturday |
| School holidays (per week) | Maximum 35 hours, 7am–7pm |
| Total in a term-time week | Maximum 12 hours |
"Statutory school age" runs until the last Friday in June of the school year in which the young person turns 16 — so a 16-year-old may still be subject to these limits.
Permitted work at 13
A 13-year-old may only do light work in one of the following:
- Delivering newspapers
- Office work
- In a shop, including shelf stacking
- In a restaurant or café
- Washing cars by hand
- Agricultural or horticultural work
- In riding stables
- In a hairdressers
- Domestic duties in hotels and other establishments offering accommodation
Aged 14–16 there is no fixed permitted list — instead, certain types of work are prohibited (see below).
Prohibited for any child of school age
- Working in a cinema, nightclub or similar
- In a betting shop or any place with gambling machines
- Delivering fuel
- Delivering milk (unless supervised, in a vehicle with seatbelts, driven by a responsible adult)
- Selling tobacco or alcohol
- Working in a commercial kitchen
- Telephone or door-to-door sales
- Work involving exposure to harmful chemicals or biological agents
- Collecting or sorting rubbish
- Preparing meat for sale, or working in butchers / slaughterhouses
- Working as an assistant or attendant in a fairground or arcade
- Any work more than three metres above ground or below floor level
- Work involving exposure to adult material or unsuitable settings
- On a market stall
- Providing personal care for residents in nursing or care homes
Source: Lambeth Council Employment of Children Byelaws 2014. Other London boroughs apply broadly similar limits — Second Corner checks the specific by-laws of the council where work will take place.