Different terms of employment apply to young workers

Young persons aged under 18 are not allowed to perform quite the same work and work on the same terms as adults. The Young Workers’ Act protects young employees from strain caused by overwork. The work must not

• be hazardous to the physical or mental development of a young person
• require more responsibility than can be considered reasonable with respect to the employee's age
• require more exertion than can be considered reasonable with respect to the employee's strength.

The Young Workers’ Act applies to work performed by persons under 18 years of age in a contractual or public-service employment relationship. The occupational safety and health provisions of the act also apply to students aged under 18 in an apprenticeship or training exercises carried out at school.

The act includes provisions concerning

• conditions on which young people can be admitted to work
• regular working hours of young workers
• maximum working hours
• distribution of working hours
• periods of rest granted to young people and occupational safety
• employer’s responsibility to provide training and guidance
• special responsibilities concerning special protection measures and
• provision of medical examinations.

There are also other acts and decrees applying to work performed by young persons. For more information on them, see the links.

Young workers are subject to the same pay and holiday provisions as other employees. The collective agreements in many sectors contain specific provisions on young employees’ pay, stating that the pay of employees aged under 18 is determined as a certain percentage of the adults' minimum pay levels.

The employment contract should always be in writing.

A young person can enter into a permanent employment relationship at the age of 15

Persons aged 15 who have completed the basic education syllabus can be employed on a permanent basis.

Young persons aged under 15 may work as follows:

Persons aged 14 and persons reaching the age of 14 during the same calendar year may perform light work tasks

• during school holidays, for no more than half of the holiday period
• during school terms, on a temporary basis or for short periods.

A person aged 13 years or younger may work temporarily as a performer or an assistant in artistic and cultural performances and in other similar events.

Who can conclude an employment contract?

• A person aged 15 or over may conclude an employment contract independently and give notice on it or cancel it.
• An employment contract for persons under 15 can be made on behalf of the young person by his or her guardian or, with the consent of the guardian, also by the young person him- or herself.

More information about concluding an employment contract

Light work suitable for young persons

Persons under 15 years of age may do light work that is not hazardous to their health or affect their development or does not interfere with their school attendance.

Such work includes:

• Selling refreshments, tickets and similar products at competitions, exhibitions or similar events
• Running errands, distributing papers and fliers
• Performances and other work at artistic, cultural and similar events
• Writing, editing, communication and other media work
• Assistant roles in retailing outlets, including displaying goods and attaching price labels, sorting and packaging goods and sales work (but not work at supermarket checkouts)
• Assistant work in offices
• Planting, picking and providing assistance in horticultural and agricultural work, feeding domestic animals that are not dangerous
• Assistant roles in hotels and restaurants, including setting tables, serving and selling
• Minor assistant tasks in industry which do not involve working with, or in close contact with, substances or implements that may be harmful or hazardous to health
• In warehouses and similar facilities, receiving, sorting, handling and dispatching goods, labelling and inventorying
• In sanitation and cleaning work, cleaning premises, including flats, where substances or implements that may be harmful or hazardous to health are not handled
• Other light work that is similar to the aforementioned types considering the working environment, requirements of the work, the responsibility laid on the worker as well as the physical and mental stress caused by the work.

The list is based on the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (MSAH) Decree on the List of Examples of Light Work Suitable for Young Workers.

Work that young persons are not allowed to do and work that is hazardous to young persons

There are a number of work tasks that young people are not allowed to do. Furthermore, some tasks are considered so hazardous and harmful that young workers’ participation in them has been restricted.

Work tasks that young persons are not allowed to do and that are hazardous to them are classified in accordance with occupational safety as follows:

• Work involving an accident or health risk or work that can be hazardous to the mental or physical development of a young person

Young persons may only do such work when specific conditions are met.

• Hazardous work

Persons aged under 16 are not allowed to do these work tasks. Young persons aged between 16 and 17 are only allowed to do hazardous work when adequate occupational safety measures have been taken. 

More detailed provisions on the work tasks that young persons are not allowed to do and that are hazardous to them are laid down in

• the Government Decree on Work that is Particularly Harmful and Hazardous to Young Workers and
• the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (MSAH) Decree on the List of Examples of Work that is Hazardous to Young Workers.

The employer must provide advance notification of hazardous work

The employer must notify occupational safety and health authorities of any hazardous work. In training-related work, the training provider must submit the notification together with the employer.

Dispensation granted by occupational safety and health authorities

Occupational safety and health authorities  have the right to grant dispensation from the provisions laying down the conditions for especially harmful or hazardous work performed by young persons aged over 16. A dispensation can only be granted if

• performing of the work is essential for his/her professional development and
• the young worker is performing the work under the supervision of an experienced and skilled person.  

Further information

Guidance and supervision of labour legislation: ​​​Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha)