Young people across Alberta often make good use of the opportunity to work part-time, both for gaining valuable employment experience and for bringing in a little pocket money.
Such work experience in particular can be valuable in terms of learning skills and gaining references as they move forward in the workforce as teens and then as adults.
At the same time, making sure that young people who decide to enter the workforce are protected is obviously a must for all stakeholders, and in particular in terms of government regulation.
To that end, the province has made changes to youth employment standards, covering jobs where employers make mandatory deductions or provide benefits such as vacation pay.
The changes do not apply to casual work such as babysitting, lawn-mowing, show shovelling or farm and ranch work.
Youth aged 12 and under are only permitted to be employed in artistic endeavours such as film, stage or television productions, and only with parental/guardian consent and a government-issued permit.
Youths aged 13-14 can be employed in such jobs as a store clerk, server, delivery person, dishwasher and food assembler, or in other jobs with a permit and parental consent, while youths aged 15-17 can be employed in most occupations, with certain requirements for supervision and restrictions on hours of work.
For her part, Minister of Labour Christina Gray says the changes will help protect young people while still allowing them to gain valuable work experience.
“By providing clarity on the standards for employing youth under age 13, the updated legislation will ensure stronger protection for children, while still offering them the choice to gain valuable life experience through their first jobs,” said Gray.
“Government consulted with more than 100 individuals and organizations, including employers, parents, students, volunteer groups, worker support centres and farm representatives in its work to update the standards.”
Making sure that when the province’s young people work, they do so in safety is a must. As such these updated standards are good for Alberta.
Dan Singleton is the Mountain View Gazette editor.
