The general minimum age is 13 years for children starting work, although children from 11 years of age may perform delivery work including for items such as newspapers and advertising leaflets.
Parental consent is required for school-aged 
and young children to work. Children are not allowed to work when they should be at school.
Maximum allowable hours of work for school-aged and young children are:
On a school day | On a non-school day | During a school week * | During a non-school week | |
| School-aged children | 4 | 8 | 12 | 38 |
| Young child | Not Applicable | 4 | Not Applicable | 12 |
* A school week is a week commencing on a Sunday, when the child is required to attend school on any day of that week.
Note: The Act makes it an offence for an employer to require or permit a school-aged child to perform work when they are required to attend school. A parent commits an offence under the Education General Provisions Act 1989 if he/she allows a child to work when they are required to be at school.
There are some exclusions for children working in the entertainment industry and family businesses .
Refer to the Child Employment Act 2006 (PDF, 620 kB) and Child Employment Regulations 2006 (PDF, 329 kB) for further details. This legislation came into effective 1 July 2006.
A school-aged or young child must obtain parental consent before starting work. The information to be included in the Parent's Consent Form, (PDF, 116 kB) as prescribed by the Child Employment Act 2006 (PDF, 620 kB) is outlined below.
If a school-aged child does not have a parent or if the child is living independently from his/her parent, the child can apply to the Director-General of the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations for a special circumstances certificate (PDF, 180kB). This certificate authorises the child to work when not required to attend school.
An employer commits an offence if they require or permit a school-aged or young child to work unless they have a Parent's Consent Form or a special circumstances certificate.
An employer also commits an offence if they require or permit a school-aged or young child to perform work when the child is required to attend school as stated in the Parent's Consent form or special circumstances certificate.
When you are hired, your employer should advise you of your wages and conditions of employment, preferably in writing.
It is suggested the following topics be discussed:
of the job (job title);If you don't get employment details in writing, you may find it hard to prove that you were hired to do a specific job.
Most job offers are made after an interview but some employers like to take people on for work experience. Work experience is a period (usually one or two weeks) of unpaid work undertaken by secondary school students as part of their careers education to provide some insight into the world of work. This school may make work experience arrangements consistent with Education (Work Experience) Act 1996. If you are offered work experience, that is not part of an approved school administered program, you are entitled to be paid for work performed as an employee. If you have not been paid or have been underpaid wages, entitlements or conditions you are entitled to lodge a wages and conditions claim.
Work placement is a period of unpaid work with an employer undertaken by Vocational Education and Training students in order to satisfy the requirements of a course or module, with supervision provided by the employer, the training provider or both.
You can also get work experience through volunteer work which is typically unpaid work that you might do to help out a charity group or community organisation.
Some employers might offer you a job conditional upon satisfactory completion of a trial period, perhaps for several days or weeks, to see if you are suitable. It is against the law for employers to ask a person to work for free for a trial period. A person is legally entitled to be paid for the work they do. If you are offered work on a trial basis find out how long it will be for, whether there is the possibility of a job and if you will be paid. If you agree to work for a trial period you should be paid on time, on the usual pay day during that period. If your employer fails to pay you for the work you do, you may be able to lodge a claim for wages.
If you are an ongoing full time or part-time employee you may be placed on a probationary period. If you are a casual employee you will not generally be subject to a probationary period.
A probationary period is the initial period in a new job which allows you and your employer to decide if the job is suitable for you. During a period of probation you and your employer can discuss performance progress, areas for improvement or easily end the relationship. Probationary periods are made for a set period and you must be told before you start the job whether there is a probationary period and what that period is.
The probationary period could be one day, one week, one month, up to three months or longer depending on the nature of the work. The period may also be set by an award or an agreement. You must be paid for any work you do during this period. Generally laws prohibiting unfair dismissals do not apply when you are on probation. The unfair dismissal probationary period for full time and part-time employees is three months unless otherwise agreed in writing before you start work.When you start a new job you usually have a lot to learn. An induction process helps you to get to know other staff, the job, the equipment used, the workplace and the employer. It should also make you aware of your responsibilities, special procedures, working conditions and the employer's expectations. Some large organisations run formal induction programs in which new workers attend training sessions. In smaller businesses induction will often be simply taking the new employee aside and explaining the job.
Full-time is an employee employed under a contract of employment for a standard hours engagement (generally 38 or 40 hours per week). Full-time employees are paid either a weekly wage based upon an hourly rate or a set salary.
Part-time is an employee that is engaged for a number of hours, fixed or variable, that is fewer than those specified as standard hours in the relevant award. Some awards stipulate the maximum as well as minimum hours which a part-time employee can work. Part-time employees are entitled to accrue holiday and other leave entitlements on a pro rata basis according to the ratio of hours worked to ordinary hours.
A casual is an employee hired on an hourly or daily basis as provided for in the award. A casual employee is not entitled to annual leave, sick leave or paid public holidays. However, casuals are compensated for the loss of these entitlements by way of an extra loading added to the ordinary hourly rate of pay for full time employees.
Refer also to our resource page on other common types of engagements.
for advice to young workers (under 25) in
Queensland about employment & industrial relations concerns
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