Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act , 1996

1. Interpretation.

1.—(1)In this Act—

“agreement” means a collective agreement, an employment regulation order or a registered employment agreement;

“break” means the interval during which a child or young person may not be permitted under this Act to work;

F1[“child”means a person who has not reached the age of 16 years;]

“collective agreement” means an agreement by or on behalf of an employer on the one hand, and by or on behalf of a trade union or trade unions representative of the employees to whom the agreement relates on the other hand;

“contract of employment” means—

(a)a contract of service or apprenticeship, and

(b)any other contract whereby an individual agrees with another person, who is carrying on the business of an employment agency within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act, 1971, and is acting in the course of that business, to do or perform personally any work or service for a third person (whether or not the third person is party to the contract),

whether the contract is express or implied or if express, whether it is oral or in writing;

“the Council Directive” means Council Directive No. 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994^(1) on the protection of young people at work, the text of which, with the exception of Section II and the Annex thereto, is set out for convenience of reference in the First Schedule’,

“day” means a period of 24 consecutive hours commencing at midnight;

“employee” means a child or a young person who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment and references, in relation to an employer, to an employee shall be construed as references to an employee employed by that employer; and for the purposes of this Act, a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces) or otherwise as a civil servant, within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956, shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the State or Government, as the case may be, and an officer or servant of a local authority for the purposes of the F2[Local Government Act 2001(as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014),] a harbour authority, a health board or F3[a member of staff of an education and training board] shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority F3[or board], as the case may be;

“employer” in relation to an employee, means the person with whom the employee has entered into or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment subject to the qualification that the person who under a contract of employment referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “contract of employment” is liable to pay the wages of the individual concerned in respect of the work or service concerned shall be deemed to be the individual’s employer;

“employment regulation order” means an employment regulation order within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1946 to 1990;

“hours of work” does not include periods of rest during which the employee is not required to be available for work;

“industrial work” means such work as the Minister may declare by order under section 2 to be industrial work for the purposes of this Act;

“inspector” means a person appointed by the Minister under section 22 to be an inspector for the purposes of this Act;

“light work” means all work which is not industrial work and 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 approved by the competent authority or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise and Employment;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

“registered employment agreement” means a registered employment agreement within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1946 to 1990;

“representatives of employees” means such trade unions as are, in the opinion of the Minister, representative of the employees in relation to whom the expression is used, or where there is no such trade union, such persons as are, in the opinion of the Minister, representative of such employees;

“representatives of employers” means such associations as are, in the opinion of the Minister, representative of the employers in relation to whom the expression is used, or where there is no such association, such persons as are, in the opinion of the Minister, representative of such employers;

“rest period” means any period which is not working time;

F4[…]

“trade union” means a body entitled under the Trade Union Act, 1941, to carry on negotiations for the fixing of wages or other conditions of employment;

“the Tribunal” means the Employment Appeals Tribunal;

“week” means a period of 7 consecutive days;

“working time” means any period during which a young person is at work, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out his or her activity or duties;

F5[‘young person’means a person who has reached the age of 16 years but has not reached the age of 18 years.]

(2)A word or expression that is used in this Act and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in this Act that it has in the Council Directive.

(3)In construing a provision of this Act, a court shall give to it a construction that will give effect to the Council Directive, and for this purpose a court shall have regard to the provisions of the Council Directive, including the preamble.

(4)In this Act a reference to a section or Schedule, is a reference to a section of, or Schedule to, this Act, unless there is an indication that a reference to any other enactment is intended.

(5)In this Act a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless there is an indication that a reference to some other provision is intended.

2. Industrial work.

2.—(1)The Minister may by order declare any form of work to be industrial work for the purposes of this Act.

(2)The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section including an order under this subsection.

3. Prohibition on employment of children.

3.—(1)Subject to this section and section 9, an employer shall not employ a child to do work.

(2)The Minister may, by licence, authorise in individual cases, the employment of a child in cultural, artistic, sports or advertising activities which are not likely to be harmful to the safety, health or development of the child and which are not likely to interfere with the child’s attendance at school, vocational guidance or training programmes or capacity to benefit from the instruction received.

(3)The Minister may, by regulations, authorise the employment of children over the age of 13 years in cultural, artistic, sports or advertising activities which are not harmful to the safety, health or development of children and which are not likely to interfere with their attendance at school, vocational guidance or training programmes or capacity to benefit from the instruction received.

(4)An employer may employ a child who is over the age of 14 years to do light work during any period outside the school term:

Provided that—

(a)the hours of work do not exceed 7 hours in any day or 35 hours in any week,

(b)the work is not harmful to the safety, health and development of the child, and

(c)during the period of the summer holidays, the child does not do any work for a period of at least 21 days.

(5)An employer may employ a child who is over the age of 15 years to do light work during school term time, provided that the hours of work do not exceed 8 hours in any week.

(6)Subject to subsection (7), an employer may employ a child who is over the age of 14 years and who is a full-time student at an institute of secondary education pursuant to any arrangements made or approved of by the Minister for Education as part of a programme of work experience or educational programme:

Provided that the hours of work do not exceed 8 hours in any day or 40 hours in any week.

(7)The Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Education and such other interested parties as the Minister sees fit, by regulations, make exemptions from subsection (6) in relation to the hours of work of children participating in a work experience or training programme approved by the Minister for Education under subsection (6).

(8)An employer may employ a child over the age of 15 years to participate in a training or work experience programme pursuant to arrangements made or approved of by the Minister or FÁS — the Employment and Training Authority, provided that the hours of work do not exceed 8 hours in any day or 40 hours in any week.

(9)Whenever the Minister grants a licence under subsection (2) or makes regulations under subsection (3) or (7), the Minister may attach to such licence or provide in such regulations such conditions as the Minister sees fit.

(10)An employer may retain in his or her employment any child of 15 years of age who was in his or her employment immediately before the commencement of this section:

Provided that the hours of work do not exceed 7 hours in any day or 35 hours in any week.

(11)An employer who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence.

4. Additional provisions in relation to employment of children.

4.—(1)An employer shall not employ any child on any work between 8 p.m. on any one day and 8 a.m. on the following day.

(2)Subject to subsection (3), an employer shall ensure that an employee who is a child receives a minimum rest period of 14 consecutive hours in each period of 24 hours.

(3)The minimum consecutive hours of rest in each period of 24 hours specified in subsection (2) may be interrupted by an employer in the case of a child employed on activities that do not extend beyond 2 hours in each day or are separated, exclusive of breaks, over the day, provided that, in each period of 24 hours, the child receives a minimum rest period of 14 hours.

(4)An employer shall ensure that an employee who is a child receives, in any period of 7 days, a minimum rest period of 2 days which shall as far as is practicable be consecutive.

(5)The minimum period of rest during each period of 7 days specified in subsection (4) may be interrupted by an employer in the case of a child employed on activities that do not extend beyond 2 hours in each day or are separated, exclusive of breaks, over the day, provided that, in each period of 7 days, the cumulative rest period is 2 days.

(6)The Minister may, by regulations, reduce the minimum period of rest specified in subsection (4) to 36 consecutive hours in respect of any class of employees or class of work where in the opinion of the Minister this is justified for technical or organisational reasons.

(7)Whenever the Minister makes regulations under subsection (6), the Minister may provide in such regulations such conditions as the Minister sees fit.

(8)An employer shall not permit a child employed by him or her to do for him or her any work for any period exceeding 4 hours without a break of at least 30 consecutive minutes.

(9)A child shall not be entitled to be paid in respect of the break specified in subsection (8).

(10)An employer who contravenes subsection (1), (2), (4) or (8) shall be guilty of an offence.

5. Duties of employer in relation to young persons and children.

5.—(1)Subject to section 9, any employer who employs a young person or child to work for him or her shall—

(a)before employing the young person or child, require the production of a copy of the birth certificate of, or other satisfactory evidence of the age of, the young person or child, as the case may be,

(b)before employing a child, obtain the written permission of the parent or guardian of the child, and

(c)maintain a register, or other satisfactory record, containing, in relation to every young person or child employed by him or her, the following particulars—

(i)the full name of the young person or child,

(ii)the date of birth of the young person or child,

(iii)the time the young person or child commences work each day,

(iv)the time the young person or child finishes work each day,

(v)the rate of wages or salary paid to the young person or child for his or her normal working hours each day, week, month or year, as the case may be, and

(vi)the total amount paid to each young person or child by way of wages or salary.

(2)An employer who fails to comply with the provisions of this section and the parent or guardian of a young person or child who aids or abets an employer in the contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

6. Employment of young persons.

6.—(1)An employer shall not employ a young person on any work except where, subject to this section and sections 7, 8 and 9, the employer—

(a)does not require or permit the young person to work for more than 8 hours in any day or 40 hours in any week,

(b)does not require or permit the young person to work—

(i)between 10 p.m. on any one day and 6 a.m. on the following day, or

(ii)between 11 p.m. on any one day (provided the day is not before a school day during a school term where such young person is attending school) and 7 a.m. on the following day, where the Minister is satisfied, following consultation with such representatives of employers and representatives of employees as the Minister considers appropriate, that there are exceptional circumstances affecting a particular branch of activity or a particular area of work as may be prescribed,

(c)ensures that the young person receives a minimum rest period of 12 consecutive hours in each period of 24 hours,

(d)ensures that the young person receives in any period of 7 days a minimum rest period of 2 days which shall, as far as is practicable, be consecutive, and

(e)does not require or permit the young person to do for him or her any work for any period exceeding 4 ½ hours without a break of at least 30 consecutive minutes.

(2)The minimum consecutive hours of rest in each period of 24 hours specified in subsection (1) (c) may be interrupted by an employer in the case of a young person employed on activities that do not extend beyond 2 hours in each day or are separated, exclusive of breaks, over the day provided that, in each period of 24 hours, the young person receives a minimum rest period of 12 hours.

(3)The minimum periods of rest during each period of 7 days specified in subsection (1) (d) may be interrupted by an employer in the case of a young person employed on activities that do not extend beyond 2 hours in each day or are separated, exclusive of breaks, over the day provided that, in each period of 7 days, the cumulative rest period is 2 days.

(4)The minimum periods of rest in each period of 24 hours and each period of 7 days specified in subsection (1) (c) and (d) shall not apply to a young person who is employed in the shipping or fishing sectors:

Provided that—

(a)there are objective grounds justifying the non-application of the provisions;

(b)such young persons receive appropriate compensatory rest times at some time during each period of 24 hours and each period of 7 days, and

(c)the trade union or representative of the young person is consulted.

(5)The limitations on hours of work and on night work specified in subsection (1) (a) and (b), and the minimum periods of rest specified in subsection (1) (c) and (d) shall not apply to young persons who are members of the Defence Forces when they are—

(a)on active service within the meaning of section 5 of the Defence Act, 1954, or deemed to be on active service, within the meaning of section 4 (1) of the Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1960;

(b)engaged in action in the course of operational duties at sea;

(c)engaged in operations in aid of the civil power; or

(d)engaged in training directly associated with any of the aforesaid activities:

Provided that such young persons are allowed equivalent compensatory rest times within 3 weeks of having ceased to engage in the aforesaid activities.

(6)A young person shall not be entitled to be paid in respect of the break specified in subsection (1) (e).

(7)An employer who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence.

7. Employment of young persons under licence.

7.—(1)The Minister may, by licence, permit an individual employer to employ young persons on terms specified in the licence in lieu of any of those referred to in section 6 (1) and may attach to the licence such conditions as the Minister sees fit:

Provided that the Minister is satisfied that—

(a)the terms of the licence are in compliance with the terms of the Directive,

(b)the health, welfare and safety of the employees affected will not be endangered, and

(c)compliance with one or more of the terms of section 6 (1) would be impractical due to the seasonal nature of the work or the technical or organisational requirements of the work or for other substantial reasons.

(2)Before granting a licence under subsection (1), the Minister shall consult such representatives of employers and representatives of employees as the Minister considers appropriate.

8. Employment of young persons under regulations.

8.—(1)The Minister may, by regulations, permit any group or category of employers to employ young persons on terms specified in the regulations in lieu of any of those referred to in section 6 (1) and may include in the regulations such conditions as the Minister sees fit:

Provided that the Minister is satisfied that—

(a)the terms of the regulations are in compliance with the terms of the Directive,

(b)the health, welfare and safety of the employees affected will not be endangered, and

(c)compliance with one or more of the terms of section 6 (1) would be impractical due to the seasonal nature of the work or the technical or organisational requirements of the work or for other substantial reasons.

(2)Before making regulations under subsection (1), the Minister shall—

(a)consult such representatives of employers and representatives of employees as the Minister considers appropriate, and

(b)publish in such manner as the Minister thinks fit notice of the Minister’s intention to do so and give persons desiring to make representations in relation to the proposed regulations a period of 21 days to do so.