How many hours can a 15-year-old work in the UK?

A manager can offer you eight hours stacking shelves on Saturday. They cannot then treat your school-night café job as somebody else’s problem. At 15, while you are below school-leaving age, the limits follow you across jobs. In Great Britain that means no more than 12 hours in a school week, however many employers want a share.

What to do before the next shift

If you are checking your own rota, or a parent’s checking it with you, start here. Child-employment hours are enforced through education authorities, not by asking an employment tribunal to approve a shift.

1. Ask for the permit or employment card. In Great Britain, the employer normally applies to the council’s education department or education welfare service. Check the local byelaws and application deadline. In Northern Ireland, the employer must notify the Education Authority at least seven days before you start. A medical certificate is also required.
2. Write down the whole rota. Include start and finish times, breaks, school days and every other job. A paper round counts too. Keep the employer’s message agreeing your hourly pay.
3. Check the daily and weekly limits. A lawful Saturday can still push the week over its cap. In Great Britain, check every seven consecutive days. A Monday-to-Sunday total alone is not enough.
4. Ask for the unlawful shift to change. You can write, “This finishes after 7pm. Please change the rota to comply with the child-employment limits.” A parent or trusted adult can help. Keep the reply.
5. Report a breach. Contact the council’s education welfare service in Great Britain, or the Education Authority’s child employment team in Northern Ireland. Give the employer’s address, your age, the rota and the permit details, if you have them. You do not need the manager’s permission to report.

How many hours can you work at 15?

The table applies while you are below compulsory school-leaving age. That is a legal date, not necessarily your 16th birthday or the day you personally leave school. Some 15-year-olds have already reached it. Check the dates below before using either the child or young-worker limits.

These are ceilings, not a right for an employer to fill every hour. Local byelaws or the conditions on a permit can be tighter. In Northern Ireland, the 37-hour limit does not authorise long shifts after school. The 2-hour school-day cap still applies, and the employment card specifies the permitted days and times.

In Great Britain, “week” means any seven consecutive days. A week containing even one school day stays under the 12-hour cap. The holiday allowance does not start just because the final bell has gone. Sunday remains a 2-hour day throughout the summer.

For a longer Saturday, put the hour’s break in the rota before you work past four hours. A 30-minute lunch does not meet the child-employment rule. The adult and young-worker break rules are different.

What the limits mean on a real rota

The work-free fortnight is separate from the weekly cap. In Great Britain it can fall in any school holiday during the calendar year, so working each summer week is not automatically unlawful if the required fortnight falls elsewhere. Northern Ireland specifically requires it between 1 July and 31 August.

Which law applies where you work?

In England and Wales, section 18 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 sets the main limits. The Children (Protection at Work) Regulations 1998 added several current protections from 4 August 1998. The 12-hour term-week cap was added later, from 11 October 2000. Council byelaws govern permits and add restrictions on jobs and hours.

Scotland uses sections 28 to 30 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 and council byelaws. The headline hours match England and Wales. The Scottish Government’s guide says the employer should apply for a permit within one week of the job starting. Check the council’s requirements before starting, rather than treating that week as permission to work anywhere.

In Northern Ireland, read Article 135 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 together with the Employment of Children Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996. The Order supplies the 2-hour school-day cap and 7am to 7pm window. The Regulations add the 7-hour non-school-day and 37-hour weekly ceilings, the Sunday limit and employment-card conditions. Reading only one gives an incomplete answer.

Which jobs are allowed, and do you need a permit?

In Great Britain, the starting point is light work. That means work unlikely to harm your safety, health, development or education. A paper round, permitted shop work or café-counter work may qualify. It does not follow that every task in that workplace is allowed.

Local byelaws commonly prohibit commercial-kitchen work, pubs and bars, slaughterhouses, door-to-door selling and work above 3 metres. Check the actual council list, including whether till work is allowed. If a permit covers serving at a café counter, it is not permission to move you to the fryer. Factory and industrial work is generally prohibited for school-age children, apart from authorised work experience.

Northern Ireland has a fixed list of permitted occupations. It includes specified deliveries, office work, hotel and catering work outside kitchens and licensed areas, shop-assistant work outside premises licensed for alcohol, betting or gaming, domestic work, and light agricultural or horticultural work for parents. Do not assume an ordinary supermarket vacancy qualifies if the premises are licensed. Ask the Education Authority about the actual workplace and duties.

Permits in Great Britain are normally specific to the job and employer. Check local application deadlines and conditions. A permit for one shop does not cover a second employer. In Northern Ireland, the employer gives at least seven days’ notice, obtains the required medical certificate and holds the employment card. Written parental consent is required. Work must stay within the occupations and times entered on that card.

Helping in a family business still counts, including unpaid work. Calling a productive shift an “unpaid trial” does not remove the child-employment restrictions. Our unpaid trial shifts guide explains the separate pay question. The employer must also assess risks to young workers, including inexperience and immaturity, before work starts. See the HSE’s young-worker guidance.

Street trading has separate rules. In England and Wales, section 20 prohibits it for children, with a narrow byelaw exception for those aged at least 14 employed by their parents. That is not a general right to sell on the street with an adult nearby. Northern Ireland prohibits child street trading under Article 135. Performance work has its own licensing rules and exemptions; a café shift does not become performance work because the employer calls it experience.

What should a 15-year-old be paid?

There is no National Minimum Wage entitlement below school-leaving age. The employer must still pay whatever wage you agreed. If they promised £6 an hour and paid £4, that is a dispute about unpaid agreed wages, not a breach of a statutory hourly floor.

The Scottish Government’s child-employment guide says school-age children have no statutory holiday-pay entitlement. The requirement for a work-free fortnight is not a promise of paid leave. A contract can provide better terms. After school-leaving age, workers normally have statutory paid-holiday rights under the working-time regime.

If the agreed pay has not arrived, keep the messages and hours record and ask for advice from Acas in Great Britain, or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland. Citizens Advice or a law centre can help identify a recovery route. If you have reached school-leaving age and are paid below the applicable rate, use our minimum-wage underpayment guide.

An adult’s delivery account is not permission to work

The BBC’s November 2023 investigation documented children working through rented adult delivery accounts. That reporting is evidence of children getting into work outside the checks readers might expect. It does not establish that renting an account legally removes child-employment or safety duties.

Do not treat an adult’s account or a “self-employed” label as approval for a school-age delivery job. If you are already doing this, tell a trusted adult and ask the council or Education Authority for advice about the work. The account holder’s age does not change yours.

Who can make an employer stop?

Report unlawful child employment to the council’s education welfare service in Great Britain or the Education Authority in Northern Ireland. They are the routes for excessive hours, prohibited jobs and missing permits or cards. Acas and the Labour Relations Agency can advise on employment disputes, but they do not issue child-employment permits.

In England and Wales, section 21 of the 1933 Act makes unlawful employment an offence. An employer, or another person whose act or default caused the breach, can face a fine up to level 3, currently £1,000. That is an England-and-Wales penalty, not a UK-wide statement. A child doing an ordinary shop shift is not the person prosecuted for the employer’s failure to obtain a required permit.

You can also ask a union about help. Usdaw organises shop workers; Unite and GMB organise across hospitality, food and other sectors. Check their membership-age rules and what support is available for a problem that has already started. Our guide to choosing a union helps you find the right one. You can seek advice alongside a parent or trusted adult rather than face the manager alone.

When can you start full-time work?

The child-employment limits stop at the statutory school-leaving date. GOV.UK sets out the dates for each nation:

• In England and Wales, you can leave on the last Friday in June if you will be 16 by the end of that school year’s summer holidays.
• In Scotland, if you turn 16 between 1 March and 30 September, you can leave after 31 May that year. If you turn 16 between 1 October and the end of February, you can leave at the start of the Christmas holidays in that school year.
• In Northern Ireland, if you turn 16 between 1 September and 1 July, you can leave after 30 June. If your birthday falls between 2 July and 31 August, you must wait until 30 June the following year.

You can therefore reach school-leaving age while still 15, or remain below it after turning 16. In England, you must also stay in education or training until 18. One permitted route is work or volunteering for at least 20 hours a week alongside part-time education or training. Leaving school does not remove that separate duty.

After school-leaving age, the young-worker regime normally limits under-18s to 8 hours a day and 40 a week. In Great Britain, Acas explains the 30-minute break for a working day longer than 4.5 hours, 12 hours’ daily rest and normally 48 hours’ weekly rest. Limited exceptions apply. Northern Ireland has separate working-time legislation. Our working time guide covers the rules after this transition.

Minimum-wage eligibility also starts at school-leaving age for qualifying workers. Regulation 4A of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 sets an under-18 rate, not a rule excluding every 15-year-old. The rate from 1 April 2026 is £8.00. Do not accept “you are not 16 yet” as the whole answer once you have reached school-leaving age.

Has the law changed to allow work until 8pm?

Not under the rules in force at this guide’s 1 October 2026 cut-off. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. Sections 28 and 29 provide for a replacement child-employment framework in England, Wales and Scotland. Those child-employment changes do not extend to Northern Ireland.

The dated version of section 18 displays both the existing restrictions and replacement text introduced for limited purposes. Read the commencement annotations. An employer pointing at “8pm” in the replacement text has not established that it is operative for your shift.

Questions people ask

How many hours can a 15-year-old work in term time?

Below school-leaving age in England, Wales and Scotland, the cap is 12 hours in any seven consecutive days containing a school day. Each school day is limited to 2 hours. Northern Ireland has a 37-hour overall weekly ceiling, but the 2-hour school-day, 7-hour Saturday and 2-hour Sunday limits still restrict a term-time rota.

Can a 15-year-old work eight hours on Saturday?

In Great Britain, yes, subject to the weekly cap, permitted job, local rules and permit. Work must fit between 7am and 7pm and include an hour’s break if it exceeds four hours. Eight working hours therefore normally mean at least nine hours on site. Northern Ireland’s Saturday cap is 7 hours.

Can a 15-year-old work on Sunday or after 7pm?

Below school-leaving age, Sunday is capped at 2 hours across all four nations, even in school holidays. The latest finish is 7pm. The 2026 Act’s proposed 8pm finish in Great Britain is not operative at this guide’s 1 October 2026 cut-off.

Can parents give permission for longer hours?

No. Parental consent does not override statutory hours. Working in a family business also counts, including unpaid work. In Northern Ireland, written parental consent is an additional condition, not an exemption from the caps.

What is the minimum wage for a 15-year-old?

Below school-leaving age there is no statutory minimum hourly wage, but an agreed wage must still be paid. A qualifying worker who has reached school-leaving age can be entitled to the under-18 rate while still 15. That rate is £8.00 from 1 April 2026.

Does a paper round count towards the weekly limit?

Yes. Add it to the hours from every other job. In Great Britain, a paper round must meet local byelaws and permit conditions, including whether work before school is allowed. A 6am start breaks the 7am rule. Northern Ireland also has a 7am earliest start and its own employment-card requirements.

Sources

1. Children and Young Persons Act 1933, section 18, version at 1 October 2026, legislation.gov.uk. Includes amendment and commencement annotations.
2. Children and Young Persons Act 1933, section 20, legislation.gov.uk. Street trading.
3. Children and Young Persons Act 1933, section 21, legislation.gov.uk. England-and-Wales offences and penalties.
4. Child employment restrictions, GOV.UK.
5. Employment of children: a guide for children, Scottish Government.
6. Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, Article 135, legislation.gov.uk. School-day hours, time window and general restrictions.
7. Employment of Children Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996, legislation.gov.uk. Daily and weekly hours, breaks, occupations and employment cards.
8. Child employment permits, Education Authority Northern Ireland.
9. School leaving age, GOV.UK. All four nations.
10. Who gets the minimum wage, GOV.UK. School-leaving-age eligibility.
11. National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015, regulation 4A, legislation.gov.uk. The under-18 rate.
12. The National Minimum Wage in 2026, Low Pay Commission / GOV.UK. Rates effective from 1 April 2026.
13. Young workers, apprentices and work experience, Acas. Young-worker hours, rest and minimum-wage eligibility.
14. Young people at work: the law, Health and Safety Executive.
15. Children working as riders for food delivery apps, BBC News, 14 November 2023.
16. Cleethorpes businesses warned about employing children without a permit, North East Lincolnshire Council.
17. Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, legislation.gov.uk. Child-employment changes in sections 28 and 29.
18. Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, section 78, legislation.gov.uk. Commencement.