Hazardous work

Hazardous work is generally prohibited for young people under the age of 18. All work which, by its nature or due to the circumstances in which it is carried out, which could potentially impair the health, training and safety of young people as well as their physical and mental development is considered hazardous. Exceptions to the ban may be provided for in cases where such work is indispensable for training in the given occupation. In addition, such exceptions must be specified in the VET Ordinance in accordance with Art. 4 para. 4 EmpO 5 (Youth Employment Protection Ordinance) and accompanying measures must be indicated in the training plan in Appendix 2.

The minimum age for performing hazardous work in vocational education training was reduced from 16 to 15 in 2014. This was linked to the condition that every professional organisation must establish accompanying measures for its occupation to ensure the health and safety of young people who are asked to perform hazardous work during apprenticeship training at the host company. In addition, the VET accreditation of the host companies must be reviewed and supplemented in this respect so that they can continue to hire and train young people under the age of 18 and assign hazardous work to them.

Transitional periods shall apply to such arrangements.