Hiring a young worker

What should you consider when hiring a young employee?

It’s great that you’re ready to offer a young person their first experiences of working life! They stay with young people and shape their thinking about work and their careers.

If the employee is 18 years of age or older, they are subject to the same workplace rules as other adults. If you hire someone under the age of 18 (a minor), you must take their age into account in many matters. The most important thing is that their work does not interfere with the young person’s health, development or education.

Consider age and skills when hiring a young employee. Minors can perform auxiliary tasks, and as they get older, they can also take on more responsibility.

Employees under the age of 18 are not allowed to perform all work tasks. For example, the following tasks are prohibited for minors:

• lifting heavy loads or other physically strenuous tasks
• working with dangerous machines
• jobs that involve handling hazardous chemicals such as solvents or pesticides
• maintenance and repair of electrical equipment, where there is a voltage hazard, and
• work that involves noise, vibration, heat, or cold.

Read the full list on the Finlex online service.

Employers must always ensure that equipment, substances and the work environment used by young employees do not pose a particular risk to the safety or health of the young worker or others.

A young worker who has reached the age of 16 may perform work classified as hazardous if the safety, guidance and supervision of the work have been ensured and if, as an employer, you have carried out an assessment of any hazardous work and notified the occupational safety and health authorities.

Read more about the restrictions on hazardous work on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website.

Exemptions for young workers

If you hire a worker under 18, please note that the length of the working day, rest periods between shifts and breaks differ from those for workers over 18.

Read more about the guidelines for hiring young employees on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website.

Workers aged 14 or younger

• Children aged 13 or younger can only work temporarily with the permission of the Finnish Supervisory Agency, in roles such as performers or assistants at art and cultural events.
• A young person who has turned 14, or will turn 14 during the current year, may only do light work that does not interfere with schooling or harm their health or development.
• While attending school, work may only be temporary, and no more than half of school holidays may be spent working. Work requires a guardian’s permission.
• Working hours for young people in basic education during the school term:
  • on days off: 7 h/day
  • on school days: 2 hours/day
  • weekly working hours: up to 12 h
  • The combined length of the school day and working time must not exceed 8 hours a day.
• Overtime and night work are prohibited.
• There must be 14 hours of uninterrupted rest each day.
• The lunch break is half an hour if working hours are more than 4.5 hours (unless otherwise agreed in the collective agreement).

Workers aged 15–17

• Working hours for young people in basic education during the school term:
  • on days off: 7 h/day
  • on school days: 2 hours/day
  • weekly working hours: up to 12 h
  • The combined length of the school day and working time must not exceed 8 hours a day.
• There are restrictions on overtime and shift scheduling.
• There must be 12 hours of uninterrupted rest per day (38 hours per week).
• The lunch break is half an hour if working hours are more than 4.5 hours (unless otherwise agreed in the collective agreement).

Induction training for young employees

Young employees should be given especially careful induction training, because their knowledge and skills in the job are not the same as those of people with more experience. Young people may be encountering many things for the first time that adults take for granted. That is why it’s important that you, as an employer or supervisor, support young employees not only in learning their jobs but also in understanding workplace practices and safety.

Employers must ensure that young people are properly trained for their work, made aware of any associated hazards and health risks, and able to apply occupational safety guidelines in practice. It is important to ensure that young people know exactly how to respond in various emergencies, incidents, and accidents.

Encourage young people to seek advice if they are unsure about anything. You should also be patient – at first, young people may make a lot of mistakes because they are inexperienced.

Checklist for supporting young employees

• Go through the employment contract thoroughly with the young person before they start work.
• Explain which collective agreement is applied in your company and, for example, what their salary consists of. Give them the opportunity to show the contract to their parents or guardians.
• Ask the young person to provide a tax card for payroll purposes if you don’t receive it directly from the Tax Administration.
• Provide induction training for the young employee. Emphasize safety and tell them where they can get help or who to ask for advice. Let them know that if they’re unsure about how to do a job safely, they should ask for advice first and only then get started.
• In addition to the induction training, remember to cover workplace rules, such as how the young person should dress at work and what to do if they fall ill or are late.
• If you have a safety representative and/or shop steward in your company, introduce them to the young person.
• When the young person receives their first paycheck, go through the payslip with them, as the content is probably not very clear to them. This will allow them to independently review their payslips in the future.
• Give the young person support, but also responsibility. It helps them develop as an employee and enjoy their work.
• Give feedback even when things are going well and remember to say thanks for work done well.
• When the job ends, write a certificate of employment for the young person. Also remember to pay compensation for any days of unused leave if they have not been used while employed.

Health checks for young employees

The purpose of a health check is to ensure that the work is suitable for the young person and does not pose a threat to their health. The employer pays for occupational health care services and receives compensation from Kela.

Occupational health care assesses working conditions in a workplace survey. Assessing and reporting work-related risks are obligatory duties for employers. The decision on the type and frequency of health checks required for employees is based on the results of this survey.

In work that poses a particular risk of illness, a health check is also carried out at the start of employment for young or fixed-term employees. In work that carries a risk of illness, occupational health care assesses the need for health checks, even if the young person has recently had a health examination at an educational institution or for military service. Voluntary health checks can also be offered for work tasks where there are no specific risks.

Find out more about health checks for work that poses a particular health risk on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website.