From now on, all young people aged 15 and over can work as a working student. But they are only allowed to perform “non-industrial work of a light nature”. For example, they can work as a shelf stacker, cloakroom assistant or sales assistant. This is stated in a royal decree that was published this week in the Official Gazette, the federal government service Employment, Labor and Social Dialogue reported on Thursday.
Lore Vanhaelewyn
Journalist at HLN
Source: Belga
We had to wait for the royal decree before all 15-year-olds could perform student work. Even those who still go to school full-time are now allowed to work, which was not possible until now.
This concerns “non-industrial work of a light nature”, or work “that does not require specific training and that is not carried out with or on mechanical work equipment”.
What jobs are 15 year olds allowed to do?
In concrete terms, 15-year-olds can work as a reception assistant or cloakroom assistant, as a stocker or sales assistant in retail, or in the healthcare sector helping with the distribution and clearing of meals and drinks.
Logistical tasks are also possible, such as receiving, packaging and shipping orders and managing stocks.
In addition, 15-year-old student workers are also allowed to perform “light cleaning tasks”. These are tasks with a low physical burden that require little strength and are of short duration. Examples include dusting, washing dishes, vacuuming or mopping small spaces, emptying trash cans, washing windows at hand height and light sanitary cleaning.
Strict rules regarding working hours
Young people are not allowed to work during class hours. On school days they may work a maximum of two hours and on other days a maximum of eight hours. Night work is excluded: working between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. is not permitted.
The federal government has already relaxed student employment in various areas in recent years. For example, young people are allowed to work up to 650 hours with reduced social contributions.