Employment of Persons Under 18

In Alberta, employment restrictions are placed on persons under the age of 18.  Unless enrolled in an off-campus education program under the School Act, no one under the age of 16 is permitted to be employed during normal school hours.

Children Under the Age of 12

These children are not permitted to be employed at any time in any occupation.

Adolescents – 12, 13 and 14 Years Old

An adolescent is a person between the ages of 12 and 14. The Employment Standards Code prohibits an adolescent from being employed:

• for longer than 2 hours on a day during which the adolescent is required to attend school,
• for longer than 8 hours on a day during which the adolescent is not required to attend school,
• between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.

An adolescent may be employed without a permit from the Director of Employment Standards in any of the following occupations:

1. delivery person of small wares for a retail store,
2. clerk or messenger in an office,
3. clerk in a retail store*,
4. delivery person for the distribution of newspapers, flyers or handbills, or
5. certain occupations in the restaurant and food services industry; however, there are special rules.

* "Retail store" includes outlets such as video stores, grocery stores, department stores, convenience stores and farmers' markets, but does not include movie theatres.

The employment must not be or have any likelihood of being injurious to the life, health, education or welfare of the adolescent and the parent or guardian of the adolescent must give the prospective employer written consent to the employment.

For all other occupations, a permit from the Director is required before an adolescent may be employed.

Before granting a permit to employ an adolescent, the Director of Employment Standards requires a completed written application. A permit is required before the adolescent may start work. The second part of the application form, the Safety Checklist for Underage Employees, must also be completed and signed. The Safety Checklist contains a box for the adolescent’s parent or guardian to provide written consent. On receipt of a copy of the completed form, the Director of Employment Standards will review the application and issue the permit or provide a reason why this cannot be done. Employers must keep a copy of the permit and the completed safety checklist and hazard assessment on the worksite at all times.

Information about completing hazard assessments is available for download from the Workplace Health and Safety web site.  Information is also available by calling the Workplace Health and Safety Contact Centre toll free at 1-866-415-8690.

The Director of Employment Standards will not issue a permit for any occupations in the construction industry or any occupation in which an adolescent would be required to work around or with operational heavy equipment, or operational potentially hazardous equipment, such as pneumatic drills, conveyors for bulk materials, hand grinders, welding equipment, hammers and nails, blowtorches, forklifts, deep fat fryers, hot grills, etc. Permits will not be issued unless an adult is present to supervise the adolescent at all times. The Director may impose conditions and limits on the employment of an adolescent when issuing a permit.

Adolescent Employment Approved Occupations

Young Persons – 15, 16 and 17 Years Old

Employment Standards does not impose any restrictions on the type of employment a young person between the ages of 15-17 may be engaged in. However, certain occupations and times of the day are subject to restrictions. If a young person works after 9:00 p.m. in:

• a place that sells food or drink,
• in a retail store,
• at a retail business selling gas or other petroleum or natural gas products, or
• in a hotel or motel

the young person must be in the continuous presence of at least one other individual 18 years old or older. Between midnight and 6 a.m. young persons are not permitted to work in such businesses.

Young persons may work in other occupations after midnight only if the following conditions are met:

• the young person’s parent or guardian provides the employer with written consent to the employment, and
• the young person must always be in the presence of at least one other individual 18 years old or older.