WORLD Policy Analysis Center

How many hours are 14-year-olds legally protected from working on a school day?

This map tells us the maximum number of hours that 14-year-olds are legally allowed to work on school days.

In cases when a country explicitly specifies the maximum number of hours children are permitted to work on a school day, we used that.

When countries do not specify the number of hours of work allowed on a school day, we use the maximum number of hours permitted per day (not specific to a school day) because it is assumed that these regulations will also apply to school days.

When countries state that work is prohibited during school hours but do not specify particular hour limitations, a 6-hour school day is assumed and combined with data on the number of hours of rest guaranteed at night; the remaining number of hours is used to determine the hours of work permitted on school days.

Protected from any work means that children are not generally permitted to do any type of work at age 14.

Only light work permitted means that at age 14, children are only permitted to do light work, defined by C138 as work which is “(a) not likely to be harmful to their health or development; and (b) not such as to prejudice their attendance at school, their participation in vocational orientation or training programmes approved by the competent authority or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received”.

Countries

Belize - 8 or more hours

Benin - 8 or more hours

Bhutan - 8 or more hours

Bolivia - 8 or more hours

Cameroon - 8 or more hours

Central African Republic - 8 or more hours

Chad - 8 or more hours

Guinea-Bissau - 8 or more hours

Kiribati - 8 or more hours

Laos - 8 or more hours

Marshall Islands - 8 or more hours

Mauritania - 8 or more hours

Micronesia, Federated States of - 8 or more hours

Niger - 8 or more hours

Nigeria - 8 or more hours

Pakistan - 8 or more hours

Palau - 8 or more hours

San Marino - 8 or more hours

Solomon Islands - 8 or more hours

South Sudan - 8 or more hours

Sri Lanka - 8 or more hours

St. Vincent and the Grenadines - 8 or more hours

Suriname - 8 or more hours

Tonga - 8 or more hours

Tuvalu - 8 or more hours

Uganda - 8 or more hours

Antigua and Barbuda - 6 - 7.9 hours

Dominica - 6 - 7.9 hours

Dominican Republic - 6 - 7.9 hours

El Salvador - 6 - 7.9 hours

Eritrea - 6 - 7.9 hours

Ethiopia - 6 - 7.9 hours

Guatemala - 6 - 7.9 hours

India - 6 - 7.9 hours

Lebanon - 6 - 7.9 hours

Nepal - 6 - 7.9 hours

Panama - 6 - 7.9 hours

Sao Tome and Principe - 6 - 7.9 hours

Sudan - 6 - 7.9 hours

Venezuela - 6 - 7.9 hours

Argentina - 3 - 5.9 hours

Australia - 3 - 5.9 hours

Bahamas - 3 - 5.9 hours

Bangladesh - 3 - 5.9 hours

Belarus - 3 - 5.9 hours

Cambodia - 3 - 5.9 hours

Estonia - 3 - 5.9 hours

Greece - 3 - 5.9 hours

Honduras - 3 - 5.9 hours

Malawi - 3 - 5.9 hours

Peru - 3 - 5.9 hours

The Philippines - 3 - 5.9 hours

Switzerland - 3 - 5.9 hours

Timor-Leste - 3 - 5.9 hours

United States of America - 3 - 5.9 hours

Vietnam - 3 - 5.9 hours

Austria - 1 - 2.9 hours

Denmark - 1 - 2.9 hours

Finland - 1 - 2.9 hours

Greenland - 1 - 2.9 hours

Iceland - 1 - 2.9 hours

Kazakhstan - 1 - 2.9 hours

Kyrgyzstan - 1 - 2.9 hours

Latvia - 1 - 2.9 hours

Liechtenstein - 1 - 2.9 hours

Mali - 1 - 2.9 hours

Malta - 1 - 2.9 hours

Norway - 1 - 2.9 hours

Paraguay - 1 - 2.9 hours

Russian Federation - 1 - 2.9 hours

Singapore - 1 - 2.9 hours

Slovenia - 1 - 2.9 hours

Tanzania - 1 - 2.9 hours

Tunisia - 1 - 2.9 hours

Türkiye - 1 - 2.9 hours

United Kingdom - 1 - 2.9 hours

Afghanistan - Protected from any work

Albania - Protected from any work

Andorra - Protected from any work

Bahrain - Protected from any work

Barbados - Protected from any work

Belgium - Protected from any work

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Protected from any work

Brazil - Protected from any work

Bulgaria - Protected from any work

Chile - Protected from any work

China - Protected from any work

Colombia - Protected from any work

Democratic Republic of the Congo - Protected from any work

Republic of the Congo - Protected from any work

Costa Rica - Protected from any work

Cote d'Ivoire - Protected from any work

Croatia - Protected from any work

Cuba - Protected from any work

Cyprus - Protected from any work

Czech Republic - Protected from any work

Djibouti - Protected from any work

Ecuador - Protected from any work

Equatorial Guinea - Protected from any work

Gabon - Protected from any work

The Gambia - Protected from any work

Grenada - Protected from any work

Guyana - Protected from any work

Haiti - Protected from any work

Hungary - Protected from any work

Iran - Protected from any work

Iraq - Protected from any work

Ireland - Protected from any work

Jordan - Protected from any work

Democratic People's Republic of Korea - Protected from any work

Republic of Korea - Protected from any work

Kuwait - Protected from any work

Libya - Protected from any work

Lithuania - Protected from any work

North Macedonia - Protected from any work

Madagascar - Protected from any work

Maldives - Protected from any work

Mauritius - Protected from any work

Mexico - Protected from any work

Moldova - Protected from any work

Mongolia - Protected from any work

Montenegro - Protected from any work

Morocco - Protected from any work

Mozambique - Protected from any work

Myanmar - Protected from any work

Nicaragua - Protected from any work

Papua New Guinea - Protected from any work

Poland - Protected from any work

Qatar - Protected from any work

Romania - Protected from any work

Rwanda - Protected from any work

Serbia - Protected from any work

Somalia - Protected from any work

South Africa - Protected from any work

Spain - Protected from any work

Eswatini - Protected from any work

Thailand - Protected from any work

Togo - Protected from any work

Trinidad and Tobago - Protected from any work

United Arab Emirates - Protected from any work

Uzbekistan - Protected from any work

Yemen - Protected from any work

Zimbabwe - Protected from any work

Algeria - Only light work permitted

Angola - Only light work permitted

Armenia - Only light work permitted

Azerbaijan - Only light work permitted

Botswana - Only light work permitted

Brunei - Only light work permitted

Burkina Faso - Only light work permitted

Burundi - Only light work permitted

Canada - Only light work permitted

Cabo Verde - Only light work permitted

Comoros - Only light work permitted

Egypt - Only light work permitted

Fiji - Only light work permitted

France - Only light work permitted

Georgia - Only light work permitted

Germany - Only light work permitted

Ghana - Only light work permitted

Guinea - Only light work permitted

Indonesia - Only light work permitted

Israel - Only light work permitted

Italy - Only light work permitted

Jamaica - Only light work permitted

Kenya - Only light work permitted

Lesotho - Only light work permitted

Liberia - Only light work permitted

Luxembourg - Only light work permitted

Malaysia - Only light work permitted

Namibia - Only light work permitted

The Netherlands - Only light work permitted

New Zealand - Only light work permitted

Oman - Only light work permitted

Portugal - Only light work permitted

Samoa - Only light work permitted

Saudi Arabia - Only light work permitted

Senegal - Only light work permitted

Seychelles - Only light work permitted

Sierra Leone - Only light work permitted

Slovakia - Only light work permitted

Sweden - Only light work permitted

Syria - Only light work permitted

Tajikistan - Only light work permitted

Turkmenistan - Only light work permitted

Ukraine - Only light work permitted

Uruguay - Only light work permitted

Vanuatu - Only light work permitted

Zambia - Only light work permitted