Some companies hire high school students as part-time workers during summer vacation. This article explains important points in hiring high school students.
[1] Treatment of students in line with the Labor Standards Act
The Labor Standards Act prescribes rules on hiring minors as below;
“An employer must not employ a child until the end of the first 31st of March that falls on or after the day on which the child reached 15 years of age.”
It also sets restrictions on employing persons who have yet to reach 18 years of age. Companies must understand these rules when they hire high school students, who are mostly under 18.
[2] Specific rules
Following are three important points of hiring high school students.
1. To confirm their ages and keep proof thereof
2. To comply with the rules on work hours and holidays
3. To comply with the rules on late-night work
When a company signs an employment contract with a student, it needs to obtain parental consent and keep an official proof of the student’s age (the certificate of items stated in resident register, etc.) in the workplace.
Employers cannot order high school students to work more than 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week. Although a variable work hour system is not applicable to high school students, companies may apply rules described below to workers who are 15 or older and under 18.
- If weekly work hours are up to 40 hours, daily work hours may be extended to up to 10 hours by reducing work hours on another day during the same week to 4 hours or less.
- If daily and weekly work hours are up to 8 hours and 48 hours, respectively, a monthly or yearly variable work hour system may be adopted.
Companies may order workers aged 18 or older to work beyond scheduled work hours or on holidays by signing a Labor-Management Agreement on Overtime (“the 36 Agreement”) and file it with the Labor Standards Inspection Office, but high school students are excluded from this agreement.
As for late-night work, companies cannot make high school students work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., even if they have an agreement. There are certain exceptions, however, such as male workers aged 16 or older who work under a rotating shift system.
It is common that sales offices or retail premises, rather than the headquarters, hire part-time workers and manage their personnel administration on their own. They need to be particularly careful when hiring high school students as part-timers. Please ensure that managers of sales offices or shops understand the relevant rules.
■Reference
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, “To employers who hire high school students—the Labor Standards Act and other rules are also applied to minors”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/11200000/001697087.pdf
*The information is based on laws and regulations as of the date of the original article.
