Hiring Young Employees Compliance Game Plan

Hiring students and young people to work at your organization can be a win-win, especially in a tight labour market. But it also requires careful legal maneuvering. Provincial employment standards and occupational health and safety laws impose strict restrictions on employment of persons under 18-years-old, particularly during the school year. There are also significant safety risks. Studies show that workers of any age are at the highest risk of occupational injury when they’ve been on the job for less than 6 months. The inexperience of youth makes the risks even greater for new workers under age 18. Here’s a 5-step game plan for complying with employment standards and OHS laws governing employment of young people.

Step 1. Ensure Young Person Is Old Enough to Do the Job

For purposes of safety, every jurisdiction has rules governing the minimum age a person must be to do a particular job or work in a particular industry. Thus, for example, in BC, a person who’s 14 to 15-years-old is allowed only to perform “light work.” Bottom Line: There are 3 factors you need to consider in navigating minimum age requirements:

• How old the employee is;
• The industry you’re in and whether there’s a minimum age a person must be to work in it; and
• Whether the employee is old enough to perform the proposed job.

Thus, for example, in some jurisdictions, an auto repair firm can’t hire a 15-year-old for any job; in others, a 15-year-old may be allowed to work for the firm doing filing, reception or other low-risk office or administrative work.

Step 2. Get All Required Permits or Parental Consents for Hiring Young Persons

Many provinces require employers to get a permit from the employment standards division or other government agency and/or the written consent of the employee’s parent, guardian or legal representative. So, make sure you know the permit and consent requirements of your own jurisdiction.

Example: An Alberta museum hired a 14-year-old boy and then assigned him the job of sandblasting a truck box. While doing the work, the box fell on him, crushing him to death. In addition to 10 OHS violations, the museum and its director were charged with 2 offences under the Alberta Employment Standards Code: hiring a worker under 15-years-old without his parents’ consent and making him work in an environment that could be dangerous to his life, health, education or welfare. Both defendants were convicted and the court imposed what was at that time, the maximum penalty—a $500,000 fine [Reynolds Museum Ltd., AB Govt. News Release, July 13, 2006].

Table 1. Young Person Permit & Consent Requirements

Step 4. Provide Young Employees Required OHS & Safety Training

While all employees are entitled to receive training ensuring they can do their assigned jobs safely, most jurisdictions’ OHS laws (all but FED, AB, NS, PEI, QC) also require employers to provide special safety orientation to new and young workers before they start their employment. Unlike employment standards laws, OHS laws define “young worker” as under age 24. In other words, special OHS training may be required even if the employee is well beyond the minimum age requirement of employment standards laws, e.g., a worker ages 20 to 24. Also note that OHS safety orientation training requirements aren’t based solely on an employee’s age but may apply when you:

• Hire post-grad students, co-op placements, volunteers or apprentices;
• Bring in immigrants or other permanent or temporary workers without experience in your industry; and
• Reassign current employees to new jobs or sites that pose different hazards.

While requirements vary slightly by jurisdiction, new and young safety orientation training must cover:

• The supervisor’s name and contact information;
• Contact information for the workplace JHSC or health and safety representative, if any;
• The employer’s and young/new worker’s OHS duties and rights, including reporting unsafe conditions and refusing unsafe work;
• Workplace health and safety rules;
• Hazards to which the new/young worker may be exposed;
• Proper use of any PPE required;
• The location of first aid facilities and method of calling for help;
• Procedures for reporting safety incidents and injuries;
• Fire and emergency procedures; and
• Required WHMIS

Be sure to maintain written logs and records of the safety orientation and training you provide to new and young workers.

Step 5. Ensure Young Employees Get Required Safety Supervision

While the duty to provide proper safety supervision and direction applies to all workers, there are also special supervision requirements for young people in some jurisdictions. The employer in the Alberta Reynolds Museum $500,000 OHS fine case that we described above learned that lesson the hard way.

  Table 3. Young Person Special Safety Supervision Requirements