WORLD Policy Analysis Center

How many hours are 16-year-olds legally protected from working on a school day?

This map tells us the maximum number of hours that 16-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 16.

Only light work permitted means that at age 16, 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

Albania - 8 or more hours

Algeria - 8 or more hours

Armenia - 8 or more hours

Australia - 8 or more hours

Austria - 8 or more hours

Azerbaijan - 8 or more hours

Bahamas - 8 or more hours

Belgium - 8 or more hours

Belize - 8 or more hours

Benin - 8 or more hours

Bhutan - 8 or more hours

Bolivia - 8 or more hours

Bosnia and Herzegovina - 8 or more hours

Brazil - 8 or more hours

Brunei - 8 or more hours

Burkina Faso - 8 or more hours

Cambodia - 8 or more hours

Cameroon - 8 or more hours

Central African Republic - 8 or more hours

Chad - 8 or more hours

China - 8 or more hours

Comoros - 8 or more hours

Republic of the Congo - 8 or more hours

Cote d'Ivoire - 8 or more hours

Croatia - 8 or more hours

Denmark - 8 or more hours

Djibouti - 8 or more hours

Dominica - 8 or more hours

Dominican Republic - 8 or more hours

El Salvador - 8 or more hours

Finland - 8 or more hours

France - 8 or more hours

Gabon - 8 or more hours

Georgia - 8 or more hours

Germany - 8 or more hours

Ghana - 8 or more hours

Greenland - 8 or more hours

Grenada - 8 or more hours

Guinea - 8 or more hours

Guinea-Bissau - 8 or more hours

Guyana - 8 or more hours

Haiti - 8 or more hours

Hungary - 8 or more hours

Indonesia - 8 or more hours

Ireland - 8 or more hours

Israel - 8 or more hours

Italy - 8 or more hours

Jamaica - 8 or more hours

Japan - 8 or more hours

Kazakhstan - 8 or more hours

Kenya - 8 or more hours

Kiribati - 8 or more hours

Democratic People's Republic of Korea - 8 or more hours

Laos - 8 or more hours

Lesotho - 8 or more hours

Liberia - 8 or more hours

Liechtenstein - 8 or more hours

Lithuania - 8 or more hours

Luxembourg - 8 or more hours

North Macedonia - 8 or more hours

Madagascar - 8 or more hours

Maldives - 8 or more hours

Mali - 8 or more hours

Malta - 8 or more hours

Marshall Islands - 8 or more hours

Mauritania - 8 or more hours

Mauritius - 8 or more hours

Mexico - 8 or more hours

Micronesia, Federated States of - 8 or more hours

Mongolia - 8 or more hours

Montenegro - 8 or more hours

Morocco - 8 or more hours

Myanmar - 8 or more hours

Namibia - 8 or more hours

Nepal - 8 or more hours

Niger - 8 or more hours

Nigeria - 8 or more hours

Norway - 8 or more hours

Pakistan - 8 or more hours

Palau - 8 or more hours

Papua New Guinea - 8 or more hours

The Philippines - 8 or more hours

Portugal - 8 or more hours

Rwanda - 8 or more hours

Samoa - 8 or more hours

San Marino - 8 or more hours

Senegal - 8 or more hours

Serbia - 8 or more hours

Seychelles - 8 or more hours

Sierra Leone - 8 or more hours

Singapore - 8 or more hours

Slovakia - 8 or more hours

Slovenia - 8 or more hours

Solomon Islands - 8 or more hours

Somalia - 8 or more hours

South Africa - 8 or more hours

South Sudan - 8 or more hours

Spain - 8 or more hours

Sri Lanka - 8 or more hours

St. Vincent and the Grenadines - 8 or more hours

Suriname - 8 or more hours

Eswatini - 8 or more hours

Sweden - 8 or more hours

Switzerland - 8 or more hours

Tajikistan - 8 or more hours

Timor-Leste - 8 or more hours

Togo - 8 or more hours

Tonga - 8 or more hours

Trinidad and Tobago - 8 or more hours

Tunisia - 8 or more hours

Türkiye - 8 or more hours

Tuvalu - 8 or more hours

Uganda - 8 or more hours

Ukraine - 8 or more hours

United Arab Emirates - 8 or more hours

United Kingdom - 8 or more hours

United States of America - 8 or more hours

Uzbekistan - 8 or more hours

Vanuatu - 8 or more hours

Vietnam - 8 or more hours

Zambia - 8 or more hours

Angola - 6 - 7.9 hours

Antigua and Barbuda - 6 - 7.9 hours

Argentina - 6 - 7.9 hours

Bahrain - 6 - 7.9 hours

Belarus - 6 - 7.9 hours

Botswana - 6 - 7.9 hours

Bulgaria - 6 - 7.9 hours

Burundi - 6 - 7.9 hours

Cabo Verde - 6 - 7.9 hours

Colombia - 6 - 7.9 hours

Costa Rica - 6 - 7.9 hours

Cyprus - 6 - 7.9 hours

Czech Republic - 6 - 7.9 hours

Ecuador - 6 - 7.9 hours

Egypt - 6 - 7.9 hours

Eritrea - 6 - 7.9 hours

Estonia - 6 - 7.9 hours

Ethiopia - 6 - 7.9 hours

Fiji - 6 - 7.9 hours

Greece - 6 - 7.9 hours

Guatemala - 6 - 7.9 hours

Honduras - 6 - 7.9 hours

India - 6 - 7.9 hours

Iran - 6 - 7.9 hours

Iraq - 6 - 7.9 hours

Jordan - 6 - 7.9 hours

Republic of Korea - 6 - 7.9 hours

Kuwait - 6 - 7.9 hours

Kyrgyzstan - 6 - 7.9 hours

Latvia - 6 - 7.9 hours

Lebanon - 6 - 7.9 hours

Malaysia - 6 - 7.9 hours

Moldova - 6 - 7.9 hours

Mozambique - 6 - 7.9 hours

The Netherlands - 6 - 7.9 hours

Nicaragua - 6 - 7.9 hours

Oman - 6 - 7.9 hours

Panama - 6 - 7.9 hours

Paraguay - 6 - 7.9 hours

Peru - 6 - 7.9 hours

Qatar - 6 - 7.9 hours

Romania - 6 - 7.9 hours

Sao Tome and Principe - 6 - 7.9 hours

Saudi Arabia - 6 - 7.9 hours

Sudan - 6 - 7.9 hours

Syria - 6 - 7.9 hours

Uruguay - 6 - 7.9 hours

Venezuela - 6 - 7.9 hours

Yemen - 6 - 7.9 hours

Zimbabwe - 6 - 7.9 hours

Bangladesh - 3 - 5.9 hours

Barbados - 3 - 5.9 hours

Democratic Republic of the Congo - 3 - 5.9 hours

Malawi - 3 - 5.9 hours

Russian Federation - 3 - 5.9 hours

Thailand - 3 - 5.9 hours

Poland - 1 - 2.9 hours

Tanzania - 1 - 2.9 hours

Cuba - Protected from any work

Libya - Protected from any work

Afghanistan - Only light work permitted

Andorra - Only light work permitted

Canada - Only light work permitted

Chile - Only light work permitted

Equatorial Guinea - Only light work permitted

The Gambia - Only light work permitted

Iceland - Only light work permitted

New Zealand - Only light work permitted

Turkmenistan - Only light work permitted