East Sussex County Council officers who work to ensure that children are not employed illegally or exploited in the workplace want simpler rules on child employment and greater awareness of the legislation.
The call follows the launch of a national campaign by the National Network for Child Employment and Entertainment (NNCEE) which wants the Government to review current legislation to create clarity and consistency across the country.
Locally, responsibility for ensuring children are not employed illegally and do not work in dangerous conditions, falls to officers in the County Council’s Education Welfare Service. In the summer it carried out an awareness raising campaign visiting more than 120 businesses in the county.
In those visits a total of 44 children were found to be working illegally – in most cases without the necessary work permit. In these cases the employers were informed of the need in law for a child to have the necessary employment card. Officers continue to make regular spot checks on employers and follow up any cases of illegal employment, in order to protect the safety and well being of the children employed.
They are supporting calls for a single piece of national legislation to replace the many existing laws and bye-laws relating to child employment, and also for a sustained national awareness campaign to educate young people, their parents and carers, and employers about their rights and responsibilities.
Councillor Rupert Simmons, the County Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Learning and School Effectiveness said: “The results of our summer child employment week campaign clearly show we need greater awareness of child employment law and we would support the calls nationally for greater clarity and consistency.”
Notes to editors
For more information on the law as laid out in the Children and Young Persons Act, including guides from the County Council for employers and for young people, visit our pages on children at work.
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