Nottinghamshire County Council is cracking down on illegal child employment to prevent bosses breaking strict rules on working hours.
Children aged between 13-16 need to have a valid permit for paid employment which puts restrictions on how long they can work for.
It is the responsibility of the employer to obtain the permit and they may be liable for fines of up to £1,000 if they don’t obtain one.
During a fortnight-long crackdown, the council is visiting businesses to make sure that young people in part-time jobs are safe and working legally.
The council issued 299 permits across Nottinghamshire last year, with the most popular jobs being newspaper rounds. There are over a 1,000 active permits in the county according to the council.
Ten firms were also investigated last year around the county for breaching the rules.
Councillor Liz Plant, of the council’s children and young people’s committee, said: “The welfare of children is paramount if they are taking part in part-time work opportunities.
“We need to ensure that their needs are being met by employers and that children who do work are doing so safely. This campaign also helps raise awareness of this legislation.”
A child (classified as between 13-16) may not work before 7am or after 7pm and cannot work more than four hours without a rest break of at least one hour.
There are other limits depending on the day of the week and whether it is term time or school holidays.
In term time the maximum a child can work is twelve hours a week.
Children cannot work more than two hours on a school day and cannot work for more than one hour before school.
On Saturdays children under 15 can work a maximum of five hours, children aged 15 or over can work a maximum of eight hours.
Children can work a maximum of two hours on Sunday.
During school holidays children under 15 can work a maximum of 25 hours per week, children aged 15 or over can work a maximum of 35 hours per week.
