ShiftLens

Can under-18s work late? Night work rules for 16 and 17-year-olds

No one aged 16 or 17 can work between midnight and 4am. They usually can't work between 10pm and 6am either. Pubs, restaurants, hotels, catering businesses, bakeries and shops can sometimes have them work later in the evening or earlier in the morning, but only in limited circumstances, and still never between midnight and 4am.

ShiftLens provides guidance, not legal advice. This guide is a summary for England, Scotland and Wales. Some rules have exceptions, and contracts or workforce agreements can change some of the details. For advice on your situation, contact Acas or an employment solicitor.

The rule

The law calls 10pm to 6am the “restricted period” for workers under 18. Their employer should make sure they don't work during it.

If their contract provides for them to work after 10pm, the restricted period moves to 11pm to 7am instead. So a 17-year-old whose contract has later finishes can work until 11pm, but then shouldn't start before 7am.

Separately, under-18s can't work between midnight and 4am. That applies in pubs and shops as much as anywhere else.

The exception for pubs, restaurants and shops

Young workers in these businesses can work in the restricted period, outside midnight to 4am:

  • a hotel, pub, restaurant, bar or similar place
  • a catering business
  • retail (shops)
  • a bakery
  • agriculture, and postal or newspaper deliveries

But only when all of these are true:

  • the work is needed to keep the business running, or to cope with a surge in demand
  • no adult worker is available to do it
  • it won't harm the young worker's education or training

When they do work in the restricted period, they must be supervised by an adult where that's needed to protect them, and they must get an equal amount of rest to make up for it (“compensatory rest”).

Before an under-18 first works in the restricted period, their employer must offer them a free assessment of their health and capacities, and offer it again at regular intervals.

Examples

  • A 17-year-old on a bar shift from 6pm to 11pm. The last hour is in the restricted period (unless their contract provides for work after 10pm). In a pub, that's only possible in the limited circumstances above.
  • The same shift running to 12:30am. Half an hour falls between midnight and 4am, which isn't allowed.
  • A 16-year-old opening a café at 6am. That's outside the usual restricted period. A 5:30am start would be inside it.

Other exceptions

In an emergency, an under-18 can work in the restricted period, including between midnight and 4am, but only if something unusual and unforeseeable has happened, the work is temporary and has to be done straight away, and no adult is available. They must then get compensatory rest within the following three weeks.

Different exceptions apply in hospitals and to cultural, artistic, sporting or advertising work.

Anyone still of compulsory school age is a child, and separate child employment rules apply. Your local council can tell you about them.

How ShiftLens checks this

ShiftLens needs to know who is under 18: a date of birth column, or an answer in “Add details” after the report.

  • Any shift between midnight and 4am is marked “Action needed”.
  • Other work between 10pm and 6am is marked “Check this”, because the exception above might apply.
  • Work between 6am and 7am gets a note, because the restricted period is 11pm to 7am for some contracts.

A rota can't show the young worker's contract, whether an adult was available, or whether they were supervised, so ShiftLens can't tell you whether the exception applies.

Check your rota for this

ShiftLens flags under-18s rostered late at night or early in the morning, and shows each shift on a week view. It's free, there's no sign-up, and your rota never leaves your browser.

Check your rota

Sources

gov.uk: night working hours; Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 6A; regulation 27A; regulation 27; regulation 7; regulation 2 (the restricted period); gov.uk: child employment