Concluding an employment contract with minors and even children is not such a rare case for an employer. Such employees are willing to find work for the summer period or immediately after graduation. And aspiring ballet, circus, film and theater artists have been working since childhood. However, when drawing up an employment contract with minors, the personnel officer will not be able to take the usual standard contract “for adults” and simply enter information about the teenager into it. The document will not be template, since it must reflect the nuances relating to a specific minor employee.
Minimum age of employee
Of course, not every person can be hired. Many businessmen are seriously mistaken and mislead other people. They claim that only a citizen who has reached the age of 18 has the right to sign a TD with an entrepreneur. Actually this is not true!
An agreement can be concluded with an employee who is over 14 years old.
There is a reservation when you can apply for a TD even before the age of 14, you will learn about it later.
Answers to frequently asked questions
Question No. 1: On what grounds does an employer have the right to terminate an employment agreement with an employee under 18 years of age?
The procedure for terminating the agreement is carried out in accordance with the generally accepted procedure. One caveat: the employer has the right to dismiss such an employee only after agreeing on this issue with the commission on minors’ affairs, as well as the state labor inspectorate. This is a mandatory requirement. Compliance with it indicates the legality of the dismissal. Without approval, the employer has the right to dismiss a minor only upon liquidation of the organization.
Question No. 2: Can a minor employee, on his own initiative, quit immediately whenever he wants?
This right is reserved for a minor citizen. But upon dismissal, before the termination of the employment contract, such an employee will be required to work for the employer for 2 weeks.
This condition does not always apply.
If the reason for dismissal is the need to start or continue studies, then there is no need to work off. Only the need for training must be documented by the person being dismissed. Rate the quality of the article. Your opinion is important to us:
Children under 14
The first category is children under 14 years old. Yes, of course, it was said earlier that they cannot be hired, but there are exceptions.
Circuses and theaters have the right to enter into trade agreements with children under 14 years of age. The agreement is concluded so that minor artists can perform at performances. At the same time, organizations concluding TD must ensure the complete safety of the child.
From what time can a contract be concluded?
The contract is concluded only with those who have reached the age of 16. Younger citizens can be hired subject to certain conditions:
From the age of 15, a teenager can work if he has already acquired a general education, or receives it while studying in an evening or correspondence department. If a minor has stopped studying, he can also be hired if he presents a certificate from the educational institution stating that he stopped studying.
From the age of 14, a teenager can get a job that falls under the category of light labor if he presents the consent of his parents, guardian or trustee and guardianship authorities. Consent can be written in free form; its writing is not regulated by the legislator.
Until the age of 14, you can get a job in concert organizations, theaters, circuses, etc. The work should only be related to creative or sports activities; for example, a teenager will not be able to work as a cleaner.
Work should not harm health and moral development. Permission for it must be given by the guardianship authorities and parents (guardians, trustees), the latter also sign the agreement. The guardianship in its permission must indicate information about the maximum duration of daily work and other conditions that it considers necessary.
In addition, minors cannot be sent on business trips, engaged in overtime and night work, or included in their schedule for shifts on weekends and holidays. Such rules apply to everyone except workers in the creative field (theaters, film studios, etc.). It is also prohibited to employ teenagers part-time or to work on a rotational basis. There is no probationary period for minor employees.
Minors cannot bear financial responsibility; therefore, they cannot be accepted for work that requires servicing and the use of monetary and commodity valuables. Compensation for damage by a teenager is possible only if he caused it intentionally, as a result of a crime or administrative offense, or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Category of people from 16 to 18 years old
This category of minors is most liked by employers. With teenagers belonging to this age group, entrepreneurs have the right to draw up employment documents as a general rule. True, even such people have their limitations.
Teenagers under 18 years of age are not allowed to work in bars and other establishments that contain alcoholic beverages.
Leaves for minors
Minor workers enjoy the same right to receive vacations as all other categories of workers. But they have some rights that adults do not have, which are as follows:
- the total length of vacation should be 31 calendar days;
- leave cannot be granted in parts, this is prohibited by law;
- in no case should vacations for minors be replaced with monetary compensation;
- To receive the next tariff leave, a minor employee can contact the employer if the 6-month period has not passed.
There are no more restrictions.
The legislative framework
Let's look at all the legislative acts that intersect with our topic:
The minimum age of a person with whom an entrepreneur has the right to begin an employment relationship is regulated by Art. 63 TK- The working day of workers is regulated by Art. 91 Labor Code of the Russian Federation
- In order to understand how to legally dismiss an employee for any reason, you should refer to Chapter 13 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation
- You can read more about the documents required for the admission of teenagers in Art. 65 TK
Requirements for drawing up an employment contract with minor citizens
When drawing up a contract for minors, a standard sample employment agreement is taken as a sample. Next, the format is adapted in accordance with the requirements of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation for the employee.
The drawn up agreement form must necessarily include the following components:
- Dating (day, month, year), place (city) of drawing up the document.
- The essence of the agreement (indication of the position, department, place of work of the minor).
- Duration of the contract (indicating the start date of employment).
- Conditions for accrual, payment of earnings in detail (salary amount, additional payments, allowances, method of issuing money, etc.).
- Working hours (start and end times of work, breaks, duration of vacation, etc.).
- Rights and obligations of the employer and minor worker.
- Additional conditions (free food, housing, reimbursement of expenses for the purchase of travel documents on public transport, etc.).
- Mutual responsibility of the parties to the agreement.
- Grounds and procedure for termination of employment relations.
- Details of the employer and the person applying for the job or his parent (including their signatures with a transcript).
This list is rather advisory in nature, since in each specific case a personal contract is drawn up. It is based on an individual approach to a minor worker.
Items present in the document of acceptance
The following conditions must be recorded in the TD between the child and the entrepreneur:
Validity. As a rule, a TD concluded with minor children has its own validity period. For example, during the summer holidays. This is an important point that must be written down.- Names of the employee and employer.
- Working hours, as well as the days on which the work must be performed.
- The contract should not imply a probationary period.
- The amount, as well as the timing when the salary will be paid.
- TD subject.
Fixed-term employment contract
A fixed-term employment contract with a minor employee is signed for a certain time, for example, during the holidays. Due to the fact that it specifies the validity period, this form is more convenient for the employer - termination of the contract (if it does not occur early) requires compliance with a minimum number of conditions, and there is no need to contact government authorities to approve the dismissal. The following must be attached to the employment contract:
- job description;
- list of work prices;
- schedule;
- non-disclosure agreement;
- additional agreement (if necessary).
Organizations that employ more than 35 people (20 in retail trade and consumer services) have the right to enter into fixed-term contracts. If the number of employees is smaller, then such an agreement can be signed for work performed over a period not exceeding six months.
Specifics of the functions performed
Not every type of work has the right to be performed by a minor child. For example, minors cannot perform work related to:
Alcoholic drinks- Harmful chemicals and other substances that may harm the health of a minor
- The danger of violating the moral development of a minor (working in the gambling business, strip clubs, bars)
Time of work and rest
One of the main points of the document is the time of work and rest. The length of the day varies for different age groups of minors:
- 14-15: no more than 2.5 hours a day
- 15-16: no more than 5 hours a day
- 16-18: up to 7 hours a day
For people under 18 years of age, the entrepreneur is obliged to provide leave once a year at the expense of the organization, which cannot be replaced by compensation and cannot be transferred to the next year.
Contents of the document
Most often, fixed-term employment contracts are concluded with persons under 18 years of age (for example, during the holidays or before entering a university). This condition must be fixed. Also, the employment contract must contain all the necessary references to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, facilitating working conditions for minors:
- lack of probation (Article 70);
- shortened working day: up to 16 years - a maximum of 24 hours a week, from 16 to 18 - 35 hours (Article 92) and a corresponding reduction in production standards (Article 270);
- reduced shift duration: 2.5 hours and 4 hours for minors 14-16 and 16-18 years old, respectively (Article 94);
- ban on work at night (Article 96), on weekends and holidays (Article 268), overtime calls (Article 99);
- limited financial liability: a minor is liable only for intentional damage or damage caused while intoxicated or as a result of a crime (Article 242);
- prohibition of work in harmful and dangerous conditions (Article 265);
- mandatory preliminary and annual medical examinations (Article 266);
- annual paid leave increased to 31 calendar days (Article 267).
At the same time, labor should be paid in the same amount as adults employed under similar conditions would receive. Otherwise it will be age discrimination.
Salary
According to Article 271 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, wages for teenagers under 18 years of age are paid based on a shortened work shift. This article contains a caveat: the employer can, if he wishes, pay additional employees from his personal funds.
The wages of minor employees cannot be lower than the minimum wage. In this case, the data must be calculated based on a shortened work shift.
Legal regulation
Chapter 42 of the Labor Code is devoted to the peculiarities of regulating the working conditions of minor employees. In particular, special working conditions are established here for minor employees. Restrictions on the use of child labor are given in Art. 265 Labor Code.
The employer should also take into account the provisions of the following regulations:
- “On approval of the Standards for maximum permissible loads for persons under 18 years of age when lifting and moving heavy objects manually” (according to the Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of 1999 No. 7).
- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 2000 No. 163, which approved the List of works in which the employment of workers under the age of 18 is prohibited.
- The list of creative workers approved by Government Decree No. 252 of 2007 (this is the type of work that children under 14 years of age can be employed in).
List of documents
When applying for a job, a young employee is required to submit the following documents:
Passport- Medical certificate, format 086-u
- Certificate from the place of study
- Consent of one of the parents/guardians (for persons under 15 years of age)
- Documents from guardianship and trusteeship (for persons under 15 years of age)
- Bank statement
- Work book
Documents for employment
A complete list of documents required for employment with a particular employer can only be obtained from the personnel service of the relevant enterprise. The fact is that the list of documents may vary depending on the specifics of the enterprise, the secrecy of its status or other conditions. However, there is a standard set of documents required for employment, and it includes:
- a valid citizen's passport or birth certificate;
- insurance pension policy;
- a certificate of completed education or a certificate from an educational institution confirming completion of distance learning;
- work book, if any;
- certificate of military registration or removal from it for objective reasons for young men;
- medical certificate on professional suitability for work in a specific specialty in a given production.
Parental consent form
The consent of one of the parents/guardians of the person being hired must indicate:
Parent's name- Parent's passport series and number
- Who issued the parent's passport
- Phrase: “I give my consent to the employment of my son/daughter”
- Child's full name
- Series and number of the child’s passport
- Who issued the child's passport
- Date and signature
All items are listed according to the sequence in which they are indicated in the document.
Fixed-term contract with teenagers
Most employers prefer to enter into a fixed-term employment agreement. The reason for this is simple. There will be no problems when dismissing such an employee.
Thus, you can enter into a TD with a teenager under 18 years old for a month, and then extend it. To do this, simply indicate the type of contract “fixed-term” and indicate the period for which you are hiring the employee. With this approach to hiring, there will definitely be no problems.
Features of the agreement
To draw up an employment contract with a minor employee, you can take as a basis a sample of a standard contract for an employee in the same position. However, you cannot simply change the data into new ones; you will need to take into account some features of the employment contract. Even the conditions for hiring boys and girls differ depending on the number of years they have already turned.
An example of an employment contract with a minor can be found on our website ()
From 14 to 15 years
Children who have reached the age of 14 can try to earn their first money only with the permission of the adults responsible for their life and upbringing. Accordingly, the employer, before concluding an employment contract with minors, must obtain the written consent of the parents and the conclusion of the guardianship authorities. In addition, it is the employer’s responsibility to verify that the teenager has completed secondary education or has been expelled from school. If a child continues his studies in some other way, then his work should be organized in such a way that it does not harm the educational process.
If you are already 15 years old
A potential employee who is already 15 years old does not need to ask permission from his parents, but he will need to prove to his future superiors that the issue of obtaining a secondary education has already been resolved. This can be proven by presenting a certificate, a certificate of expulsion or a document from the current educational institution intended to complete the teenager’s education. In this case, it is typical for employment contracts concluded with minors to draw up a work schedule taking into account their academic workload.
Hiring those who are already 16 years old
In terms of assessing work opportunities, labor legislation is more loyal than other areas of law. A person can make a decision and sign an employment contract at the age of 16. To distinguish such an employee from all others who have already become adults, there will be a ban on performing heavy work, in hazardous conditions or underground. At the mutual request, the employer can also conclude a fixed-term employment contract with such a minor, without agreeing on its details with anyone other than the employee himself.
A 16-year-old employee can sign his employment contract independently, without taking into account the opinion of his parents. But this does not mean that all spheres of production are accessible to him. Until the age of 18, he should be offered only light work.
Children under 14 years old
Life has proven that you can find a job even for a newborn. But their sphere of employment can only be in the arts (cinema, theater, circus or concert organizations). Naturally, only his parent or guardian can allow his child to be used in a performance or exhibition, with the support of guardianship officials. In this case, one of the parents also takes part in drawing up the contract and signing it. The duration of work and its schedule will be special:
| Child actors from 8 to 13 years old | No more than 3 hours a day (exclusively from 9.00 to 19.00 hours) |
| Artists over 13 years old | No more than 4 hours at the same time. |
| Little artists up to 8 years old | No more than 2 hours, strictly from 9.00 to 16.00 hours. |
An opinion on the moral safety of the proposed work can be given by the guardianship and trusteeship authorities, therefore their consent is mandatory when employing persons under 15 years of age, Art. 63 TK.
Common Mistakes
When concluding trade agreements with teenagers, entrepreneurs often make common mistakes, such as:
Conclusion of an agreement as a general rule with teenagers under 16 years of age.- They hire an employee for a certain period, forgetting to indicate this in the contract.
- They are unreasonably refusing to conclude a TD, and this is illegal!
- Requiring documents not listed in the list of documents required for employment.
We hope the information presented will be useful to both managers and potential applicants.
Top
Write your question in the form below
