The summer vacation period is the most favorable stage for involving underage students of educational institutions in work activity. This time frame objectively creates conditions for the development of personal competencies and significantly facilitates the process of young people’s professional adaptation within the structure of the modern labor market.

Leading specialists dealing with socialization and professional self-determination in the field of adolescent employment identify several of the most important aspects in this context. In particular: 

-   increased self-esteem and the accumulation of life experience: tasks related to work activity help acquire elements of self-planning, timely completion of assignments, and, most importantly, independent problem-solving; 

-   in the course of work, young employees learn the principles of discipline, responsibility for their actions, learn to interact with colleagues and management, and also to work as part of a team;   

-   temporary work allows teenagers to try themselves in various fields, determine their preferences, and form an idea of their future career; 

-   diverse work experience helps young people better understand their abilities and interests, which is an important step toward choosing a future profession; 

-   direct participation in so-called “work projects” allows teenagers to actively express themselves and benefit those around them. By the way, employers gain additional labor for performing routine tasks that do not require high qualifications; 

-   the presence of basic professional skills and the ability to work “in a group” increases graduates’ competitiveness in the labor market; 

-   adolescent employment during free time minimizes the likelihood of their involvement in a wide variety of destructive forms of behavior. Which, incidentally, is one of the pressing problems of our time, to which people of all ages and social statuses are susceptible. 

With the beginning of the summer holidays, the Berlin Senate Department for Labour, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination (Senatsverwaltung für Arbeit, Soziales, Gleichstellung, Integration, Vielfalt und Antidiskriminierung, SenASGIVA) considered it appropriate to remind readers of the legal provisions regulating working time for persons under the age of majority. 

The main priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of teenagers. To achieve this goal, it is extremely important that both employers and the underage workers themselves, as well as their legal representatives, are aware of the applicable rules and strictly adhere to them. 

The basic principle states that the minimum wage established in Berlin is, in most cases, also applicable to workers under 18. 

In accordance with the Youth Employment Protection Act (Jugendarbeitsschutzgesetz, JArbSchG):

-   young people aged 15 to 18 inclusive have the right to work during school holidays for no more than four weeks in a calendar year; 

-   the maximum length of the working day is eight hours, and the weekly limit is 40 hours; 

-   working hours must fall between 06:00 and 20:00; 

-   maximum number of working days per week – 5; 

-   the break between shifts must be at least 12 hours;  

-   as a rule, work for teenagers on weekends is prohibited. Exceptions are cases provided for by law in certain sectors, such as catering, healthcare, or confectionery production (§ 17, para. 2 JArbSchG); 

-   at the same time, their holiday work must be manageable and age-appropriate. An absolute requirement is the mandatory observance of rest and break times.

Additional information: www.berlin.de/sen/arbeit/beschaeftigung/arbeitsschutz/service/artikel.1223735.php