ALBERTA

EMPLOYMENT
STANDARDS
RULES
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Youth Employment Laws

a. Employees 12 years of age and under

b. Employees 13-14 years of age

c. Employees 15-17 years of age
d. Working in Artistic Endeavours
e. Self-employed and Contractor
BASIC • There are restrictions on the jobs

RULES
that people under 18 years old can
do.

• There are also restrictions on the

hours when people under 18 are
allowed to work.
BASIC
RULES
•All employees, including those under 18 years of

age, are entitled to the minimum standards of

employment, such as general holidays, vacations,

minimum wage, and termination notice or pay.

BASIC
Here are some important exceptions:

• Rules for youth employment only apply to employees, not

RULES •
self-employed contractors or volunteers.

Different rules for students in an approved training course

or integrated learning program.

• The rules don’t apply to working on farms and ranches.

Youth follow the same rules as other farm and ranch
employees.
 •May only be employed in artistic

endeavours.

• A permit is required for

work in artistic endeavours.

• Allowable hours of work

and any other restrictions

will be determined during

the permit approval process.

• Parent or guardian consent is

required.

EMPLOYEES UNDER 12 YEARS OLD

EMPLOYEES AGES 13-14 YEARS OLD
May be employed in any of the following jobs without a permit:
• clerk or messenger in an office or retail store
• delivery person for small goods and merchandise for a retail store
• delivering flyers, newspapers and handbills
EMPLOYEES AGES 13-14 YEARS OLD
May be employed in any of the following jobs without a permit:
• light janitorial work in offices
• coach for a recreational athletic club or association
• food service employee in a restaurant or other establishment where food is prepared
and served or sold
 EMPLOYEES AGES
13-14 YEARS OLD

CAN NOT WORK:

- between 9 pm and 6 am
- cannot work during school hours, unless they're enrolled
in an off-campus education program

CAN WORK:
- only work up to 2 hours outside of regular school hours,
on school days
- work up to 8 hours on non-school days

Parent or guardian consent is required for all jobs.

EMPLOYEES AGES 15-17 YEARS OLD
May be employed in any type of work:
• No permits are required.
• Parent or guardian consent is only required to work during restricted hours .
EMPLOYEES AGES 15-17 YEARS OLD
Restrictions on hours of work
- cannot work during regular school hours unless enrolled in an off-campus education
program.
- can only work between 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. with adult supervision. They can't work between
12:01 am and 6 am (retail or hospitality)

However, they require:

• parental or guardian consent
• adult supervision
ARTISTIC ENDEAVOURS
People under age 15 are required to get a permit to work in artistic endeavours.

An artistic endeavour means work in:

• recorded entertainment
• voice recordings for video and computer gaming
• live performances/entertainment industry
voice recordings film, radio, video or theatre plays or
television musical performances
SELF-EMPLOYED AND CONTRACTORS

As with all other workers, people under 18 years old are only covered by Employment
Standards rules if they are employees.

This means that the rules don’t apply to people under 18 years old who are self-employed
or working as independent contractors or volunteering.
snow shovelling babysitting lawn cutting
HAZARD ASSESSMENTS

It is important to remember that all Employment Standards and

Occupational Health and Safety legislation applies to the
employment of people under 18.
Please get in touch with us via email if you have any
inquiries or visit www.alberta.ca for more information.
Manya Bhandari
mbhandari@norquest.ca

Stephanie Elaine Biado

sbiado@norquest.ca

Dhruv Goyal
dgoyal42@norquest.ca

Christina Mae Jumilla

cjumilla@norquest.ca

Kylle Erika Patricio

kpatricio@norquest.ca