North Lanarkshire Council, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Sections 28(2) and 30(2) of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937[1], hereby makes the following Bye-laws:
Citation
1) These bye-laws may be cited as the North Lanarkshire Council Bye-laws on the Employment of Children 2001.
Interpretation and extent
2) In these bye-laws, unless the context otherwise requires:
- “the authority” means North Lanarkshire Council;
- “child” means a person who is not for the purposes of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980[2] over school age;
- “employment” includes assistance in any trade or occupation which is carried on for profit, whether or not payment is received for that assistance, and does not include a work experience scheme under Section 123 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980;
- “light work” means all work which, on account of the inherent nature of the tasks which it involves and the particular conditions under which they are performed is not likely to be harmful to the safety, health or development of children and is not such as to be harmful to their attendance at school, their participation in vocational guidance or training programmes or a work experience scheme under section 123 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received;
- “parent”, in bye-law 10(d), includes any person who has parental responsibilities in relation to a child (within the meaning of section 1(3) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995)[3];
- “public place” includes any public park, garden, sea beach or railway station and any ground to which the public for the time being have or are permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise;
- “street” includes any highway and any public bridge, road, lane, footway, square, court, alley or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not;
- “street trading” includes the hawking of newspapers, matches, flowers and other articles, playing, signing or performing for profit, shoe blacking and other like occupations carried on in any street or public place;
- “year”, except in expression of age, means a period of twelve months beginning with 1st January.
Prohibited Employment
3) No child of any age may be employed:
in a cinema, theatre, discotheque, dance hall or night club, except in connection with a performance given entirely by children;[4]
a) to sell or deliver alcohol, except in sealed containers;
b) to deliver milk, or any other dairy products;
c) to deliver fuel oils;
d) in a commercial kitchen;
e) to collect or sort refuse;
f) in any work which is more than three metres above ground level or, in the case of internal work, more than three metres above floor level;
g) in employment involving harmful exposure to physical, biological or chemical agents;
h) to collect money or to sell or canvass door to door, except under the supervision of an adult;
i) in work involving exposure to adult material or in situations which are for this reason otherwise unsuitable for children:
j) in telephone sales;
k) in any slaughterhouse or in that part of any butcher’s shop or other premises connected with the killing of livestock, butchery, or the preparation of carcasses or meat for sale:
l) as an attendant or assistant in a fairground 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;
m) in the personal care of residents or any residential care home or nursing home unless under the supervision of a responsible adult.
Permitted employment of children aged 14 and over
4) A child aged 14 or over may be employed only in light work.
Permitted employment of children aged 13
5) A child aged 13 may not be employed except in light work in one or more of the following specified categories:
a) agricultural or horticultural work;
b) delivery of newspapers, journals and other printed material, and collecting payment for same, subject to the provisions of Bye-law 3(i);
c) shop work, including shelf stacking;
d) hairdressing salons;
e) office work;
f) car washing by hand in a private residential setting;
g) in a cafe or restaurant;
h) in riding stables;
i) domestic work in hotels and other establishments offering accommodation;
j) medical and dental surgeries;
k) race courses, dog racing enclosures, football grounds or similar premises.
Hours of Employment
6)
a) no child shall be employed on any school day for a period or periods exceeding a total of two hours, provided that not more than one hour of the said period or periods of employment may take between 07.00 hours and 08.30 hours and the remainder of the said period or periods of employment, if any, shall take place between 16.30 hours and 19.00 hours.
b) no child shall be employed in any non-school day except between 07.30 and 19.00.
Illness
7) No child shall be employed during any period when prevented from attending school by reason of illness or contact with infectious or contagious disease.
Children exempted or excluded from attendance at school
8) No child shall be employed during any period when they are:-
a) exempt from attendance at school, in terms of Section 34 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980; or
b) excluded from attendance at school.
Additional conditions
9) No child may be employed in any work out of doors unless wearing suitable clothes and shoes.
Notification of employment and employment permits
10) Within one week of employing a child, the employer must send to the authority written notification stating:
a) employer's name and address;
b) the name, address and date of birth of the child;
c) the hours and days on which the child is to be employed, the occupation in which the child is to be employed, details of the task involved and, if different from (a) above, the place of employment;
d) a statement of the child’s fitness to work, and of approval for the child to be employed, completed by the child’s parent/guardian;
e) details of the school at which the child is a registered pupil; and
f) a statement to the effect that an appropriate risk assessment has been carried out by the employer.
11) Where, on receipt of a notification, the education authority is satisfied that:
- the proposed employment is lawful;
- the child’s health, welfare or ability to take full advantage of his education would not be jeopardised; and
- the child is fit to undertake the work for which they are to be employed, it will issue the child with an employment permit.
12) Before issuing an employment permit an education authority may require a child to have a medical examination.
13) The employment permit will state:
a) the name, address and date of birth of the child;
b) the hours and days on which the child is to be employed, the occupation in which the child is to be employed, details of the task involved and the place of employment.
14) A child may be employed only in accordance with the details shown on his employment permit.
15) An education authority may if it considers it appropriate amend a child’s employment permit from time to time and without prejudice to the foregoing generality may do so on the application of an employer.
16) The education authority may if it considers it appropriate at any time revoke a child’s employment permit and without prejudice to the foregoing generality may do so if it has reasonable grounds to believe:
a) that the child is being unlawfully employed, or
b) that their health, welfare or ability to take advantage of his education are suffering or likely to suffer as a result of the employment.
17) A child must produce their employment permit for inspection when required to do so by an authorised officer of the authority or a police officer.
Street Trading
18) No child under the age of 14 may engage in street trading and a child aged 14 or over may not engage in street trading unless:
a) they are employed to do so by their parents, in connection with their retail business and under their direct supervision; and
b) they have been granted a licence to do so (“a street trader’s licence”) by the authority and is acting in compliance with the terms of that licence.
19) The authority shall not grant a street trader’s licence to any child if it has reason to believe that the employment of the child in street trading would be prejudicial to their health, welfare or ability to take full advantage of their education or the child’s street trader’s licence has previously been revoked.
20) A street trader’s licence (which may be considered in relation to any places or times other than Sunday) shall:
a) be valid for not more than 12 months and shall expire on 31 December;
b) prohibit the holder from touting or importuning to the annoyance or obstruction of any member of the public in any street or public place;
c) define the days, and hours, during which, and the places at which the child may engage or be employed in street trading, and
d) require that the child notify the authority within one week of any change of address.
21) The authority may suspend or revoke a street trader’s licence if it has reason to believe that the holder’s continued employment in street trading would be prejudicial to their health, welfare, or ability to take full advantage of his education, or if the holder:
a) is found guilty of any offence connected with the street trading;
b) commits any breach of these Bye-laws or the terms of his street trader’s licence;
c) uses the licence as a means for begging, immorality or any other improper purpose; or
d) fails to notify the authority within one week of any change of address.
Revocation
22) The Bye-laws governing the employment of children made by Strathclyde Regional Council on the Twenty Third day of June 1988 and confirmed by the Secretary of State for Scotland on the Twenty Seventh day of October 1988 are hereby revoked insofar as they apply within the area of North Lanarkshire Council.
These Bye-laws on the Employment of Children which came into force on 5th January 2002 were made by North Lanarkshire Council on 22 June 2001 and confirmed by the Secretary of State for Scotland (subject to amendments incorporated above) on 20 December 2001.
[1] 1937 c.37
[2] 1980 c.44
[3] 1995 c.36
[4] This does not prevent children taking part in performances under the provisions of a licence granted in accordance with the Children and Young Persons Act 1963, and the associated Regulations.