Employing under-18s: the hours rules
The Youth Employment Law is stricter than most rosters assume, and it is not a matter of preference. Breaching the core hours rules is an offence by the employer, not a scheduling decision that can be justified after the fact — which is why they are worth knowing before the shift is published rather than after.
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Fifteen normally, fourteen in the school holidays
The general minimum working age is 15. During official school holidays a 14-year-old may work, under tighter conditions. Everyone becomes an adult for these purposes at 18, and the transition is by date of birth — somebody can be a minor on Monday and an adult on Wednesday of the same week, which matters when a roster is built a fortnight ahead.
The night ban is not the same for every minor
Under 16, work is prohibited between 20:00 and 08:00. At 16 and 17 the prohibited window is 22:00 to 06:00. This is the rule most often got wrong, because a single "no nights for minors" setting cannot express it: the same 21:00 shift is lawful for a 17-year-old and an offence for a 15-year-old.
Eight hours a day, forty a week, six days at most
A minor may work up to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, across no more than 6 days. Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds on a five-day week may work up to 9 hours on a day, within the same 40-hour weekly total. The weekly cap is the binding one in practice: it is easy to stay under the daily limit every day and still breach the week.
Fourteen hours between shifts, thirty-six hours a week
A minor is entitled to at least 14 hours of rest between the end of one working day and the start of the next, and to a continuous weekly rest of at least 36 hours. A shift longer than six hours carries a break of at least 45 minutes, with 30 of them continuous. The 14-hour rule quietly rules out back-to-back shifts that would be perfectly legal for an adult.
A permit can move the night boundary — but not for everyone
A Ministry permit can push the night boundary as late as 23:00, and it applies only to 16- and 17-year-olds. There is no equivalent for under-16s: the 20:00 boundary holds regardless. Treating the permit as a general exemption is a common and expensive mistake.
How Noviq applies this
Noviq grades each rule as hard, overridable or advisory, and the hard ones — the night window, the weekly rest day, working below minimum age — are refused everywhere, with no override at any permission level. Age is measured against each shift’s own date rather than today, so somebody turning 18 mid-week is treated correctly on both sides of their birthday.