Wiltshire Council is joining with other local authorities in the south west to suspend child employment arrangements temporarily during COVID-19.
Wiltshire currently has 170 young people aged 16 or under who are working and have an employment licence. This can be in a number of areas including newspaper rounds or retail.
DfE guidance highlights laws which state young people of 16 years or younger should only do light work which is not harmful to the safety, health or development of children.
However, there are concerns it is more difficult to monitor these arrangements during this time including being able to assess whether appropriate health and safety measures have been taken. There are also concerns that children may be asked to work more hours than their licence permits, or during hours when they would ordinarily be at school.
Wiltshire Council will write to all employers currently employing children and advise they need to suspend their child employment.They will also be contacting all young people who have employment licences and their parents.
This is a temporary suspension which will need to be in place and Wiltshire Council thank employers and young people and their families for their understanding during this time.