Page:Oxfordshire County Council Byelaws on the Employment of Children 1998.pdf/5



These Byelaws regulate the types of occupation in which children under school leaving age may be employed (byelaws 3-5), and other conditions of their employment. They provide for checks on a child's fitness for employment (byelaws 9 and 10) and for the issue of employment permits, setting out the occupation in which a child may' be employed and his hours of work (byelaws 8-15). Employers are obliged to' notify the authority of their child employees (byelaw 8).

These Byelaws are not a comprehensive statement of the law relating to the employment of children and should be read in conjunction with other legislation relating to prohibited occupations, hours of work and street trading in particular.

By virtue of section 560 Education Act 1996, enactments relating to the prohibition or regulation of the employment of children do not apply to children undertaking work experience within the meaning of the Act. "Enactment" for this purpose includes byelaws having effect under an enactment, so nothing in these Byelaws applies to a child's work experience.

Prohibited and Permitted Employment

Children ages 13 are limited to employment in the occupations listed at byelaw 5. Children aged 14 or over are not limited in this way, but may only undertake light work (byelaw 4). Byelaw 3 lists various occupations which are prohibited for children, even if they would constitute light work. Many more occupations or specific tasks are prohibited by other legislation, including:­

the Employment of Women, Children and Young Persons Act 1920, which prohibits the employment of children in any "industrial undertaking", including mines and quarries, manufacturing industry, construction and the transport of passengers or goods by road, rail or inland waterway (section 1(1»;

The Agriculture (Safety, Health and Welfare Provisions) Act 1956, under which it is an offence to cause or permit a child to ride on or drive a vehicle, machine or agricultural implement (section 7);

the Offices Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963, which provides that no young person may clean machinery if to do so would expose him to risk of injury (section 18);

the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963, which prohibits the employment of persons under 18 in effecting any betting transaction or in a licensed betting office (section 21);