Shops, cafes, warehouses and delivery services increasingly build rotas with software that fills shifts from availability and forecast demand. For staff aged under 18, the law sets tighter limits than for adults, and a scheduling tool that treats every worker the same can break them without anyone noticing. This page sets out the young worker rules in the Working Time Regulations 1998 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The short answer: a young worker must not work more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week, counting hours for every employer (reg 5A). They must not work during the restricted period, which is usually 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (reg 6A). They are entitled to 12 hours' rest between working days, 48 hours' rest each week and a 30-minute break after four and a half hours (reg 10(2), reg 11(3), reg 12(4)). The hours limit can only be exceeded in the narrow circumstances in reg 27A.
Who counts as a young worker
A young worker is a worker aged at least 15 but under 18 who is over compulsory school age in England and Wales, or over school age in Scotland (reg 2). This page does not cover children who are still of compulsory school age.
Daily and weekly hours
A young worker's working time must not exceed eight hours a day or 40 hours a week, and the week starts at midnight between Sunday and Monday (reg 5A(1) and (3)). If they work for more than one employer on a day or in a week, the hours for each employer are added together (reg 5A(2)). The employer must take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect workers' health and safety, to make sure the limits are kept (reg 5A(4)).
The aggregation rule matters for shift apps and marketplaces that place the same teenager with several businesses. A system that only counts hours within one account cannot show whether the combined total is over the limit. Asking about other work, and recording the answer, is part of taking reasonable steps.
The limits can be set aside only where the work is needed to keep a service or production going or to meet a surge in demand, no adult worker is available, and the work would not adversely affect the young worker's education or training (reg 27A(1)). A forecast that predicts a busy weekend does not on its own meet those conditions.
Night work
An employer must make sure that no young worker it employs works during the restricted period (reg 6A). That period is 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., or 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. where the worker's contract provides for work after 10 p.m. (reg 2).
There are narrow exceptions, again only where the reg 27A(1) conditions are met. Young workers in hospitals and similar establishments, or in cultural, artistic, sporting or advertising activities, can work in the restricted period. Those in agriculture, retail, postal or newspaper deliveries, catering, hotels, pubs, restaurants, bars and bakeries can work in it except between midnight and 4 a.m. (reg 27A(2) and (3)). Where an exception is used, the young worker must be supervised by an adult where that is necessary for their protection, and must be given an equivalent period of compensatory rest (reg 27A(4)).
Before a young worker is assigned to work in the restricted period, the employer must make sure they have the chance of a free assessment of their health and capacities, and must offer further free assessments at appropriate intervals, unless the work is of an exceptional nature (reg 7(2) to (4)). The assessment is confidential: without the worker's written consent, it can only be disclosed as a statement that they are fit for the assignment (reg 7(5)).
Rest periods and breaks
- Daily rest: at least 12 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period, compared with 11 for adults. It may be interrupted for work that is split up over the day or of short duration (reg 10(2) and (3)).
- Weekly rest: at least 48 hours in each seven-day period. It may be interrupted for split or short work, and reduced for technical or organisational reasons, but not below 36 consecutive hours (reg 11(3) and (8)). The adult option of averaging rest over 14 days does not apply.
- Rest breaks: a break of at least 30 minutes once daily working time is more than four and a half hours, consecutive if possible, and away from any workstation. Hours for different employers on the same day count together (reg 12(4) and (5)). Adults are entitled to 20 minutes after six hours.
A rota engine that takes rules from adult defaults, such as an 11-hour turnaround or a break after six hours, will schedule young workers unlawfully. Age needs to be a constraint in the system, not a note in a file.
Health and safety risk assessment
An employer must not employ a young person unless it has made or reviewed a risk assessment that covers the risks to young persons (Management Regulations reg 3(4)). That assessment must take particular account of matters including their inexperience, lack of awareness of risks and immaturity, the work equipment and how it is used, and the organisation of processes and activities (reg 3(5)). Young persons must be protected from risks that arise from their lack of experience or awareness or the fact that they have not yet fully matured (reg 19(1)). They must not do work beyond their physical or psychological capacity, or work involving certain harmful exposures or accident risks they may not recognise or avoid, subject to limited training exceptions for those who are no longer children (reg 19(2) and (3)).
Where young people work alongside robots, automated vehicles or fast-paced picking systems, the work equipment and the pace set by the system are part of what the assessment must address. For the wider duties, see AI and health and safety.
Enforcement
The limits on hours and night work, and the health assessment and supervision duties, are among the requirements that the Health and Safety Executive or, for some workplaces, a local authority or other regulator enforces (reg 28). A young worker who is refused daily rest, weekly rest, a rest break or compensatory rest can complain to an employment tribunal, which can make a declaration and award compensation that is just and equitable (reg 30(1), (3) and (4)). Check which time limit applies before bringing a claim: from 1 October 2026 the period in reg 30 is six months, so check which period applies to earlier events.
What this means in practice
- Employers: record dates of birth in the scheduling system and set separate rules for under-18s: 8 hours a day, 40 a week, 12 hours between shifts, 48 hours off a week, 30-minute breaks and no shifts in the restricted period. Ask about other jobs and count those hours.
- Platforms and agencies: if your system offers shifts to people under 18, apply the same limits across every business they work for through you.
- Young workers and parents: keep a note of the shifts you work and the breaks you get. If an app keeps offering late shifts or back-to-back days, raise it with the employer; see raising safety concerns.
For the adult rules on hours and records, see working time limits; for how rota software affects shifts more generally, scheduling and shifts; for paid study time for some 16 and 17 year olds, time off for young employees to study. This page is general information on the law in Great Britain as at 2 November 2026, not legal advice.
Questions and answers
How many hours can a 16 or 17 year old work in the UK?
A young worker over compulsory school age can work no more than eight hours a day and 40 hours a week, with hours for different employers added together (Working Time Regulations 1998 reg 5A). Exceptions apply only in narrow circumstances set out in reg 27A.
Can under-18s work night shifts?
Generally not between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. (or 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. if the contract provides for work after 10 p.m.). Limited exceptions exist for some sectors, but for retail, catering, hotels, pubs, restaurants and bars, those exceptions never extend to work between midnight and 4 a.m. (reg 27A(3)).
What breaks are young workers entitled to?
A break of at least 30 minutes when they work more than four and a half hours, 12 hours of rest between working days and 48 hours of rest each week, which can only be reduced to 36 hours for technical or organisational reasons.
When can a young worker work longer hours?
Regulation 5A itself contains no opt-out. Under reg 27A the limits can be exceeded only in the circumstances in reg 27A, where the work is needed for continuity or a surge in demand, no adult is available and education or training is not adversely affected.