Child Employment Licence
The Education Welfare Service is responsible for the monitoring and issuing of licences relating to the employment of children within Merthyr Tydfil.
A child is employed if he/she assists in any trade or occupation carried on for profit whether or not the child receives payment or reward. This also applies if the parent is the employer.
Who needs a licence?
All children who are of compulsory school age i.e. 16 years and under, require a permit to enable them to carry out any type of work, paid or unpaid, part-time or full-time. However, children must be 13 years old to undertake any part-time work.
Where can children work within Merthyr Tydfil?
Our local Byelaws set out permitted areas of employment and those areas of work which have been deemed as ‘unsuitable’ for children under the age of 16.
No child of any age may be employed:
- in a cinema, theatre, discotheque, dance hall or night club (unless licensed to perform there);
- to sell or deliver alcohol except in sealed containers;
- to deliver milk;
- to deliver fuel oils;
- in a commercial kitchen;
- to collect or sort refuse;
- in any work which is more than three metres above ground level or, in the case of internal work, more than three metres above floor level;
- in employment involving harmful exposure to physical, biological or chemical agents;
- to collect money or to sell or canvas door to door;
- in work involving exposure to adult material or in situations which are for this reason otherwise unsuitable for children;
- in telephone sales;
- in any slaughterhouse or in that part of any butcher’s shop or other premises connected with the killing of livestock, butchery, or the preparation of carcasses or meat for sale;
- as an attendant or assistant in a fairground or amusement arcade or in any other premises used for the purpose of public amusement by means of automatic machines, games of chance or skill or similar devices;
- in the personal care of residents of any residential care home or nursing home.
How to apply for a work permit
It is the responsibility of the employer to apply for a work permit, which can be done by downloading and completing the Application form below. Alternatively employers can contact the Education Welfare Service on 01685 724620 or educationwelfare@merthyr.gov.uk for further advice and guidance.
Further information, including details of when and for how long children can work, can be found in the following guidance booklets:
Child employment – A Guide for Parents and Carers
Child employment – A Guide for Employers