An Examination of Canadian and European Young Worker Policies

An Examination of Canadian and European Young Worker Policies Gulaid Egeh December xx, 2010 Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation Toronto, Ontario

Presentation Outline • Introduction - Ontario history of workplace health and safety - Aim of the policy study • Young worker themes - Minimum age for employment - Minimum age for types of employment - Time limits on young workers - Worker compensation (only in Canada) • Conclusions • Policy opportunities for Ontario

Introduction • Ontario history of workplace health and safety - In the last one hundred years, Ontario has witnessed economic shifts shaped by directions in which some industries were growing - Rise of agricultural industry - Followed by mining, manufacturing, and construction industries - Today, we are facing a different growth; that is, the service industry

Introduction (cont’d) • Health and Safety regulations have been shaping up to meet young worker safety needs - 1888, the closing hours and hours of labour were regulated for young workers (e.g., not permitted to work beyond 14 hrs/day and 74 hrs/week) - 1895, minimum age in factory work for boys was raised to 14 years, except in the canning industry - 1908, minimum age for workers in retail shops was raised from 10 to 12 years. Employment during school hours was also prohibited, except in special circumstances

Introduction (cont’d) • The aim of the policy study is two-fold - To identify existing and operating young worker policies in Ontario - To examine Ontario young worker policies in relation to other Canadian provinces and territories and select European countries (e.g., the UK, Finland, Norway and Sweden)

Minimum Age for Employment • Ontario, the Maritimes, and the three territories do not have specific minimum age for employment in their occupational policies • Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba have set minimum age for employment as shown in their Employment Standards - Children under 12 years of age are prohibited from any type of employment - If under 12 years of age, children may work in exceptional situations with the written permission of their parents or legal guardians and the Director of Employment Standards

Minimum Age for Employment (cont’d) • Saskatchewan - Children under the age of 14 years are not permitted to work - The age permitted to work is either over 14 or 15 years - Effective March 31, 2010, young workers must complete the Young Worker Readiness Certificate Course (YWRCC) - At the time of employment, employers require to see proof of age, written consent from a parent or guardian and documents supporting the YWRCC

Minimum Age for Employment (cont’d) • Quebec - Children under the age of 14 years are not permitted to work - If permitted to work, employers will require the written consent of the parent or tutor • The United Kingdom (UK) countries of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales - Children under the age of 13 years are prohibited from work - If permitted to work, employers will require permission from the local authority

Minimum Age for Employment (cont’d) • Finland - There is no age restriction for employment - There is age restrictions to specific types of employment • Norway - There is no age restriction for employment - There is age restrictions to specific types of employment • Sweden - There is no age restriction for employment - There is age restrictions to specific types of employment

Minimum Age for Types of Employment • Ontario - Children under the age of 14 years may not be employed in an industrial establishment (e.g., office building, factory, arena, shop or office) - Children under the age of 15 years may not be employed in a factory - Children under the age of 16 years may not be employed in a logging operation, in or about the workplace of a construction project, at a mining plant or surface mine, and as an apprentice - Children under the age of 18 years may not be employed in underground mine or at the working face of a surface

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) mine, to do work offshore on or from oil or gas rigs, to do window cleaning, to sell or serve liquor on licensed premises, and to operate a motorized vending cart used for the sale and service of liquor - Children under the age of 19 years may not be employed to undertake shaft attendant duties • Alberta - Adolescents aged 12 to 14 years may not be employed without the written consent from the parent/guardian and the Director’s approval unless the adolescent is enrolled in an off-campus education program approved under the education act

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - Adolescents (>12 but <15 years of age) between 12 and 14 years of age may be employed as a delivery person of small wares for a retail store, as a clerk or messenger in an office, as a clerk in a retail store, as a delivery person for the distribution of newspapers, flyers, or handbills, or any occupation approved by the Director, or any occupation that is not or is not likely to be injurious to the life, health, education or welfare of the adolescent - Young persons (>15 but <18 years of age) may not be allowed to use ionizing designated radiation equipment or an ionizing radiation source except where that individual is a student undergoing a course of instruction involving the use of equipment or source conducted under the direct supervision of a competent worker

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - Young persons may not be issued a blaster’s permit or be the driver of a vehicle transporting explosives or be issued a permit to handle, prepare, and fire explosives - No minor (<18 years of age) shall enter or be in and no facility licensee may permit a minor to enter or be in a casino or a racing entertainment centre, or any other licensed facility where minors are prohibited - No minor can be issued a liquor license or to a corporation if the majority of its members are minors - Young persons may not be allowed to enter or be employed to sell or serve liquor in licensed premises. Some exceptions apply such as if the minor is an entertainer or repairer, etc.

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) • British Columbia - Children under the age of 15 but over 12 years may not be employed without the written consent of the parent /guardian. A child under 12 years of age, the Director may set the conditions of employment for the child - An employer of a child must ensure that the child works only under the direct and immediate supervision of a person who has reached 19 years of age - Children under the age of 16 years may not be employed to mix, load, or apply a moderately or very toxic pesticide for use in a workplace, or clean or maintain equipment used in the operations

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - If a child under the age of 16 years is employed, he or she may not be designated as a First Aid Attendant, and must present certificates when the criteria is met - Children under the age of 18 years may not be issued a blaster’s certificate and therefore cannot work as a blaster - The manager may not employ any person under the age of 18 years at a mine except for the purpose of training that person - Minors (<19 years of age) may not be authorized or permitted to enter or be on or to be on the premises where liquor is sold or kept for sale, except when minor is accompanied by a parent or guardian on premises where liquor is sold for consumption off the premises, with lawful excuse, or in prescribed circumstances

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - An employer of a young worker (<25 years of age) must ensure that before a young or new worker begins work in a workplace, the young or new worker is given health and safety orientation and training specific to that young or new worker’s workplace • Manitoba - No person shall employ a child under the age of 16 years and no parent, guardian or other person having the care, custody or control of such a child shall allow the child to be employed, except as permitted by the regulations or by a permit issued by the Director

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - The Director may not issue a permit authorizing a child to be employed in a type of employment that, in the Director’s opinion, is likely to adversely affect the safety, health or well-being of the child - Children under the age of 16 years may not be employed in any occupation that requires a substantive amount of producing, cleaning, altering, repairing, or servicing any material, substance, article, machinery, or work done with machinery, or to work in a designated trade - An employer may not employ or permit the employment of any person under the age of 18 years in the underground workings of a mine or at the face of an open pit or quarry working, or as a mine hoist or crane operator

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - Children under the age of 18 years may not be employed to operate X-ray equipment, unless that person is a student undergoing a bona fide course of instructions relating to the operation of X-ray equipment under safety supervision satisfactory to the Minister - No person under the age of 18 years shall be in a licensed beverage room at any time when liquor may lawfully be sold or consumed therein, unless the young person is accompanied by his or her parent, spouse, common-law partner or guardian who is at least 18 years and no such person shall consume liquor therein

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - Children under the age of 18 years shall not be employed to sell, handle, or serve liquor in any licensed premises • New Brunswick - Children under the age of 14 years may not be employed in any industrial undertaking, in the forest industry, in the construction industry, in a garage or automotive service station, in a hotel or restaurant, in a theatre, dance hall or shooting gallery, as an elevator operator, in any location or occupation prescribed by regulation - No employer shall employ a person who is under the age of 16 years in employment that is or is likely to be unwholesome or harmful to the person’s health, welfare or moral or physical development

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - No employer shall employ a person who is under the age of 18 years as a blaster and as an x-ray radiation worker unless the person is a student undergoing a course of instruction relating to the operation of x-ray equipment - An employer shall ensure that no person operates a hoist unless that person has attained the age of 19 years and presents a certificate to operate - No person under the age of 19 years should be employed to give, serve, sell or supply liquor to any person in licensed premises

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) • Newfoundland and Labrador - An employer shall not employ a child who is under the age of 14 years unless the work is prescribed work within prescribed undertakings - The age for admission to a work training program shall be 15 years or over but in exceptional circumstances the commission may, at the request of the Minister of Education, rule a student to be entitled to the benefits of this section - An employer shall not employ a child under the age of 16 years to work occupations that are prescribed as hazardous or that is or is likely to be unwholesome or harmful to the child’s health or normal development, or prejudicial to the child’s attendance at school or to the child’s capacity to benefit from instruction given at school

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - No employer shall employ a child under the age of 16 years while a strike or lockout is in progress and without the written consent of the child’s parent or guardian, which must be kept as part of the record of employment and the age must be specified in the consent - A person under the age of 18 years shall not be employed in the underground works of a mine, in a silica process nor in cleaning or maintenance work likely to involve exposure to silica dust except work that is a recognized part of apprenticeship or comparable course of training, and as a radiation worker, unless employed as a radiation technologist in training

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - A person under the age of 19 years cannot enter, be, remain or work in premises in respect of which a liquor license has been granted, except duties that do not involve handling of liquor - A person under the age of 20 years employed in a mine or in immediate connection with the mine shall not be put in charge of machinery for hoisting, for lifting or for haulage, and shall not be put in charge of or be made responsible for the charging of blasting holes with explosives or for the firing of explosives in blasting holes, and shall not be entrusted with the transmission of signals and orders for putting machines in motion

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - A person under the age of 21 years shall not be employed to have charge of hoists used for hoisting or lowering workers in a mine or in workings connected with the mine • Northwest Territories and Nunavut - A person under the age of 16 years may not enter into a contract of apprenticeship, and may not be employed in or about a mine - An employer may employ a person under the age of 17 years in any occupation that is not detrimental to the health, education, or moral character of the young person

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - No person under the age of 18 years shall be employed underground or at the working face of any open cut workings, pit or quarry - No person shall employ a person under the age of 19 years where an asbestos and silica process is being conducted unless the process is conducted under constant supervision, and the process has been inspected and approved by a safety officer - No minor (< 19 years of age) shall enter or be employed to prepare or serve liquor, a minor may enter in special circumstances, but shall not consume liquor at the event - The chief inspector may not issue a hoist operator’s certificate to a person who is under the age of 20 years

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) • Nova Scotia - No person shall employ a child under the age of 14 years in any work prohibited by regulations or pay wages to do work that is or is likely to be unwholesome or harmful to his/her health or normal development, or such as to prejudice his attendance at school or capacity to benefit from instruction there given - No person shall employ a child under the age of 16 years in work of any kind in an industrial undertaking, the forestry industry, garages and automobile service stations, hotels, restaurants, except where an employee is not operating cooking equipment and where safety training on all equipment and adequate supervision is provided and the person is at least 14 years of age, the operating of elevators, theatres, dance halls, shooting galleries, bowling-alleys, billiard and pool rooms

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - Employers must ensure that liquor is not dispensed by an employee who is under the age of 19 years, and a licensee may permit an employee who is under the age of 19 years to serve a liquor at a customer’s table - A person under the age of 19 years shall not enter into an apprenticeship - A person under the age of 19 years shall not qualify as a blasting trainee or a candidate for a restricted blaster certificate. An applicant for a trainee certificate who 19 years of age or over must submit proof that he/she has completed an approved safety training course in order to perform restricted work under the close visual supervision of a certified blaster

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) • Prince Edward Island - Youth Employment Act (YEA) – indicates that no employer shall employ a young person under the age of 16 years in any work that is or is likely to be harmful to the health or safety, or moral or physical development of the young person - Employers must assign duties appropriate for the young worker’s age, knowledge, education and work experience, and identify any potential danger to the health and safety of the young worker and give appropriate instruction personally or by another trained adult and supervise at all times the work of the young person before authorizing to perform unsupervised work

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - Children under the age of 16 years shall not be employed to work as a signaller. Those over 16 must be competent persons who have been trained in, and have demonstrated an adequate knowledge of traffic control and signalling procedures, among other requirements - Children under the age of 16 years shall not be employed to become an apprentice in a designated trade or to become a construction worker - No person under the age of 19 years should be employed to give, serve, sell or supply liquor to any person in licensed premises

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) • Quebec -No work may be done by a worker who is less than 16 years of age in an open-pit mine, in a concentrator, or in a plant, or to become an apprentice in a trade or vocation under the Act - Youth Protection Act (YPA) – indicates that no employer may have work performed that is disproportionate to the child’s capacity, or that is likely to be detrimental to the child’s education, health or physical or moral development - No work may be done by a worker who is less than 18 years of age in an underground mine, to perform work on the working face in an open-pit mine, or to use equipment that hoists or moves objects or people or to perform blasting work, or any work requiring the use of explosives

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - No person under the age of 18 years shall be employed to be responsible for and maintain a concrete pump or a distribution mast or as a shot firer, perform work by means of a motorized hoisting apparatus, work on a suspended scaffolding, on a boatswain’s chair, demolition work, operate a low velocity explosive actuated tool, work underwater, work underground at the face of an open-pit site, or at the controls of hoisting or moving equipment, in excavations or trenches, or in compressed air - No person under the age of 18 years should be employedto give, serve, sell or supply liquor to any person in licensed premises

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - No person under the age of 20 years shall be employed as a blaster, unless acting as an assistant, or as a hoist person • Saskatchewan - No person under the age of 14 years shall be employed without work readiness certificate, and not without written parental consent. Employer must keep this certificate with youth’s record of employment - An employer or contractor shall ensure that no person under the age of 16 years is employed or permitted to work on a construction site, in a production process at a pulp mill, sawmill or woodworking establishment, in a production process at a smelter, foundry, refinery or metal processing or fabricating operation, in a confined space, in a production process in a meat, fish or poultry processing plant, in a forestry or logging operation, on a drilling or servicing rig, as an operator of

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) powered mobile equipment, a crane or a hoist, where exposure to a chemical or biological substance is likely to endanger the health or safety of the person, or in power line construction or maintenance - No person under the age of 16 years shall be employed in any educational institution, hospital, nursing home, hotel, or restaurant - An employer or contractor shall ensure that no person under the age of 18 years is employed underground or in an open pit at a mine, as a radiation worker, in an asbestos process, in a silica process, in any activity for which these regulations or any other regulations made pursuant to the Act require the use of an atmosphere-supplying respirator

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - No person under the age of 19 years should be employed to give, serve, sell or supply liquor to any person in licensed premises • Yukon Territory - No person under the age of 16 years shall be employed in or about a mine or a project. At age 16, a young person can be employed at a surface mine, except at the working face - No person under the age of 16 years shall be employed to enter into a written apprenticeship agreement - No person shall employ a person under 17 years of age in any occupations prescribed by the regulations

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - An owner of an x-ray machine or source shall not employ as an x-ray worker any person who is under the age of 18 years, unless that person is undergoing a course in training where knowledge of x-rays is required and is under the direct supervision of an x-ray worker - No person under the age of 18 years shall be employed at an underground project or at the working face of a surface mine or project - No person under the age of 18 years shall be employed to operate a motor vehicle transporting explosive materials, or be a candidate for a blaster’s permit or temporary blaster’s permit, or be in charge of or attend to a conveyance carrying explosive material, whether parked or mobile

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - No person under the age of 19 years shall be issued a permit to sell, supply, or serve liquor, but employee who is a minor may deliver liquor to table in food primary establishment - Employers of new and young workers are responsible for providing adequate training, supervision, and hazard identification, among other duties. Young worker means any worker who is under 19 years of age. New worker means any worker who is new to the workplace, returning to the workplace where the hazards in that workplace have changed during the worker’s absence or relocated to a new workplace where the hazards in that workplace are different from the hazards in the worker’s previous workplace

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) • The UK - Children under the age of 13 years may not be employed to do shop work or taking on a paper round, or any other task likely to affect their health, safety or education and if over 13, employers must get a permit signed by the parent from the local authority - Children under the age of 14 years may not be employed to do work in factories or on a building site - Children under the age of 16 years shall not be employed to work in a factory or in construction work, in transport, in a mine, on a registered merchant ship

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - Employers employing children under the age of 18 years must do an assessment of possible risks to worker’s health and safety, before they employ. They must pay attention to worker’s age, lack of experience, and other things that could be a risk to the worker’s health and safety and if the worker is under 16 years of age, they must provide this assessment to the parent - Children under the age of 18 years shall not be employed to do work which brings them into contact with chemical agents, toxic material or radiation work or extreme cold, heat or vibration - Young workers over the age of 18 years get the same work rights as adults

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) • Finland -Young persons (< 18 years of age) may only do work which does not harm their physical or mental development or demand greater exertion or responsibility than what is reasonable with regard to the age and strength of the young persons -Children of the age of 13 years or younger may be may be temporarily employed as performers or assistants at art or cultural performances or other corresponding events - Children under the age of 14 years may not be employed to do light work which includes messenger’s work, delivery of papers and advertisements, sale of tickets and

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) refreshments at different events, sales work and assistant work in shops, offices and restaurants, as well as in garden and farm work - Young workers under the age of 16 years may not be employed to do work involving machinery and equipment, chemicals, electricity, or biological or physical risk factors (noise, vibration), demounting of buildings or the care of laboratory animals, continuous lifting, where the weight of the load continuously exceeds 20 kg for men and 15 kg for women

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) - Young workers under the age of 18 years may not be employed to do work involving the manufacture, transport and handling of inflammable and explosive substances and flammable liquids of class I, work which is toxic or carcinogenic, work which exposes the worker to hazardous radiation, or noise andvibration, or extreme cold and heat, and the care of psychiatric patients • Norway - Children under the age of 13 years shall not be employed to do light work

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) -Children of the age of 14 years or older may do work that is part of their schooling or practical vocational guidanceapproved by the school authorities - Children under the age of 15 years may be employed to perform work involving cultural or light work - Young workers under the age of 18 years must not perform work that may be detrimental to their safety, health, development or schooling. The Ministry may by regulation provide what types of work shall be subject to this prohibition and concerning registration of employees under 18 years of age

Minimum Age for Types of Employment (cont’d) • Sweden - Children of the age of 13 years or older may be employed to perform light work that will not have a detrimental effect on the child’s health, development or schooling - Children under the age of 16 years may not be employed to do any work besides light work - Children under the age of 18 years may not be employed to work in a manner involving a risk of accident or of over- exertion or any other harmful effect on the young worker’s health or development. The Swedish Work Environment Authority may make regulations concerning conditions for or the prohibition of a child being engaged in work involving a substantial risk of accidents

Time Limits on Young Workers • Ontario - Under the Education Act, no person shall employ a child under the age of 18 years during regular school hours, unless employment during regular school hours are part of an equivalent learning experience approved by board, or student has already obtained high school diploma - The fine for preventing a child bound by regular school attendance is $1000.00 and it applies to parents or guardians and employers - A child who is continuously absent can have his/her license taken away until attendance record improves or they are no longer bound by compulsory attendance

Time Limits on Young Workers (cont’d) • Alberta - No employer may employ an adolescent under 15 but over 12 years of age for longer than 2 hours outside of normal school hours on a day during which the adolescent is required to attend school, or for longer than 8 hours on a day during which the adolescent is not required to attend school. During the period of time from 9:00 p.m. to the following 6:00 a.m., no employer may employ an adolescent and no adolescent may work in any employment

Time Limits on Young Workers (cont’d) - During the period of time from 9:00 p.m. to the following 12:01 a.m., no employer may employ a young person (>15 but <17 years of age) and no young person may work in any employment on or in connection with any of the following premises unless the young person works with and is in the continuous presence of at least one other individual 18 years old or older: the premises of any retain business selling food or beverages, whether alcoholic or not, or any other commodities, goods, wares or merchandise; the premises of a retail business in which gasoline, diesel fuel, propane or any other product of petroleum or natural gas is sold; a hotel, motel or other place that provides overnight accommodation to the public

Time Limits on Young Workers (cont’d) - During the period of time from 12:01 a.m. to the following 6:00 a.m., no employer may employer a young person (>15 but <17 years of age) and no young person may work, in any employment on or in connection with any of the premises specified in subsection (1), unless with written consent from parent/guardian, and in the continuous presence of an individual at least 18 years of age - No person under the age of 16 years shall be employed during normal school hours, unless the student is enrolled in an off-campus education program provided under the School Act, or has received diploma (or equivalent)

Time Limits on Young Workers (cont’d) • British Columbia - An employer of a child (>12 but <14 years of age) must not require or allow the child to work on a school day at a time when the child is scheduled to attend, unless the student is participating in an approved work study, work experience, or occupational study class - An employer of a child (>12 but <14 years of age) must not require or allow the child to work more than 4 hours on a school day, more than 7 hours on a day that is not a school day, unless the employer receives prior written approval from the Director of Employment Standards, more than 20 hours in a week that has 5 school days, and in any case, more than 35 hours in a week

Time Limits on Young Workers (cont’d) - The employer of a child (<15 years of age) in the entertainment industry must ensure that the child’s shift ends no later than 8 hours after the child reports for work. The employer of a child in the entertainment industry must not require the child to report for work earlier than 5:00 a.m. on any day unless the employer receives prior written approval from the Director. The employer of a child in the entertainment industry must ensure that the child’s shift ends no later than the following times unless the employer receives prior written approval from the director: if the child’s school is in session, 10:00 p.m. if the next day is a school day, and 12:30 a.m. if the next day is not a school day, if the child’s school is not in session, 2:00 a.m.

Time Limits on Young Workers (cont’d) - Children under the age of 16 years have compulsory school attendance until the age of 16, they cannot be employed during normal school hours, unless in an approved work experience • Manitoba - No person under the age of 16 years shall be employed during regular school hours, unless as part of an approved work study program - No person shall employ a child under the age of 16 years between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., or for more than 20 hours during a week of school, except as permitted by the regulations or as authorized by the Director in special circumstances

An Examination of Canadian and European Young Worker Policies