United Kingdom Annex 15 REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DIRECTIVE 94/33/EC ON THE PROTECTION OF YOUNG PEOPLE AT WORK IN RESPECT OF CHILD EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION 1. INTRODUCTION This report has been produced by reference to documentary files held by the Department of Health. Prior to introducing amending legislation to ensure compliance with the Directive a consultation exercise was undertaken in 1995/96 and a wider review of child employment legislation was undertaken in 1998. The consultation document issued in 1995 was very widely circulated and views were sought from other government departments, all local authorities, various trade representative bodies, employers, child model and performance agencies, child care organisations, research bodies and members of the public. All responses were taken into account in formulating legislation to comply with the Directive in 1998. In 1998 a working group, reporting to Ministers undertook a wider review of child employment legislation. Other government departments, local authorities, child employment network representatives child and model agencies representatives and others contributed to the debate. In 2000, recognising that the five-year opt-out previously secured in respect of EC94/33 was drawing to a close, and in line with a recommendation of the working group that the one item preventing full compliance with the Directive, as regards child employment law, be adopted, legislation was introduced. A copy of the relevant Statutory Instrument is attached. 2. LEGAL SITUATION Principally the Children and Young person’s Act 1933, as amended, governs the regulation of children’s employment. Additionally requirements are imposed by local authority byelaws. In most respects the law satisfied or exceeded the minimum requirements of the Directive when it was introduced. However some changes were considered necessary and these were introduced in 1998 and 2000, respectively. In 1998 Regulations were made to amend the 1933 Act to include a requirement for children to have at least two weeks free from work during the school holidays and to permit 13 year olds to work only in jobs specified in local authority byelaws. The legislation was also amended to contain restrictions on children’s working hours on Saturdays and during the school holidays, including rest break requirements. All local authorities were asked to amend their byelaws to comply with revised legislation. In 2000 further amendments were made to primary legislation removing the provision that allowed children between the ages of 10 and 13 to work for their parents in agriculture or horticulture and limiting to 12 the number of hours a child or young person could work during the school week. Regulations also introduced the requirement that any byelaws permitting children and young people to undertake work in street trading for their parents would contain provisions determining the days and hours during which, and the places at which, such persons may engage or be employed in street trading. While some concerns were expressed, prior to the introduction of the legislative changes, about the possible impact we are unaware of any actual problems being experienced in practice. 3. PUBLICISING AND FLANKING OF THE NEW LEGISLATION As noted above a consultation exercise and a review of child employment legislation were undertaken before changes to legislation were introduced. In 1998 following the introduction of the legislative changes letters were sent to all local authorities and to all those contributing to the exercise advising of the changes and of the practical impact that they might have. Following the review of child employment all other government departments with an interest in child employment legislation were advised of the proposed changes and all local authorities needing to further amend their byelaws were advised of any necessary action. We have produced a basic fact sheet for general distribution and many local authorities have their own leaflets targeted at children, employers and/or parents. The statutory instruments introducing the changes can be found on Her Majesty’s Stationery Office legislation web site and the Department of Health’s web site is currently being updated to take account of the changes. When the 1998 changes came into force all local authorities were provided by the Government with model byelaws to assist them in introducing local changes and they were all supported as they worked through their procedures to amend their byelaws. When the amending legislation was introduced in 2000 all local authorities needing to take further action were written to individually and supported through the process. All local authority byelaws are confirmed by the Secretary of State ensuring compliance with the amended legislation. The action as described was sufficient to ensure implementation and understanding of the legislation. No further formal action is planned although advice will continue to be provided on request. 4. MONITORING OF IMPLEMENTATION Local authority education departments are responsible for implementing and monitoring child employment legislation. Local authorities may introduce their own methods for monitoring the legislation. Methods used may differ between authorities. We are not aware of any problems being encountered in either the introduction or monitoring of the new legislation. 5. ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS It will be for local authorities to decide on the most effective data collection to be adopted to assess the effectiveness of the legislation. 6. SUMMING UP The most positive aspect of the implementation of the Directive has been to raise the profile of child employment legislation. We are not aware of any negative aspects of implementation. Some concerns expressed before implementation e.g. the impact on the farming community of the raising of the minimum age at which a child may work for their parents, have failed to materialise. 7. OUTLOOK Following implementation we have no priorities in this area at the moment. Would not wish to suggest any adaptations or amendments to the Directive. We do not think that there are any necessary adaptations to technical progress We cannot suggest any flanking measures at EU level. 8. NORTHERN IRELAND The law in Northern Ireland governing the employment of children below minimum school leaving age is contained in the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and the Employment of Children Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996. The legislation complies with the Directive in all but one respect, namely the maximum number of hours per week a child may work during term-time. The current individual daily limits allow for children below the age of 15 to work a total of 17 hours a week in term-time and for those aged 15 (but below minimum school leaving age) to work a total of 19 hours. There is no evidence to suggest that children who are licensed to work during term-time do so for more than 12 hours per week. The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety will consult shortly on introducing amending legislation to impose a formal weekly limit in term-time of 12 hours per week. Footnote: 1. Statutory Instruments 2000 No.2548 Children and Young Persons, England and Wales REPORT ON THE PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF DIRECTIVE 94/33/EC ON THE PROTECTION OF YOUNG PEOPLE AT WORK AGED FROM MINIMUM SCHOOL LEAVING AGE TO 18TH BIRTHDAY 1 INTRODUCTION This section of the report has been produced by reference to files held by the Department of Trade and Industry. Prior to the adoption of the Young Workers Directive ( YWD), the UK Government had reviewed employment legislation relating to adolescent workers and had introduced measures which ensured that such workers were in general, subject to the same employment legislation as adults - with certain exceptions to protect against specific health safety and welfare risks. 2 LEGAL SITUATION The Working Time Regulations (WTR), which came into force on 1 October 1998, and equivalent regulations in Northern Ireland which came into force on 23 November 1998, following a period of public consultation, implemented the parts of the YWD concerning health assessments and rest periods for adolescents. The Government took advantage of the derogation in Article 17 (1) (b) relating to the limits on weekly working time and night work of 15-17 year olds. Consequently, the working time and night work protections for adolescents have been the same as that provided for adult workers by the WTR, being an average weekly working time of 48 hours and a night work limit of 8 hours a day on average. However, in line with the requirements of the YWD, the WTR provides adolescents with specific entitlements to 12 consecutive hours' rest between each working day, 2 days' weekly rest and a 30-minute in-work rest break where the working day is longer than 4.5 hours 3 PUBLICISING AND FLANKING OF THE NEW LEGISLATION The WTR, which implemented parts of the YWD, were widely promoted on introduction. The publicity campaign, which targeted workers and employers in all sectors through display advertising in the national press, ran from 10th September 1998 to 17th October 1998. The campaign which aimed to inform employers and employees of the new regulations and provide access to further information generated approximately 53,000 responses. Post campaign research showed that awareness of the new regulations amongst the target audience was increased from 34% to 58%, particularly among small companies. 31% of those questioned did not foresee any problems with the regulations. As part of the campaign, the Government made available a free publication "A Guide to the Working Time Regulations" which incorporated guidance on the provisions derived from the YWD. The guidance offered general advice on how to comply with the WTR. The guidance which has since been updated is available on the DTI website and through an orderline. 4 MONITORING OF IMPLEMENTATION Paras 4 and 5 of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) section of the report explains existing monitoring mechanisms.