According to the "Young Persons Protection of Employment Act" adolescents are especially protected regarding their labour time. The daily labour time is generally restricted to 8 hours and a prohibition of night shifts between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. exists - just to mention two features. In some branches, like "bakery and pastry trade", several exceptions are made because for this sector working in the early morning is part of the job description. Depending on their age, adolescents are allowed to start working at 4 a.m. (from 17 years on) respectively at 5 a.m. (from 16 years on). The interrogation results of 275 apprentices during the first year of apprenticeship in “bakery and pastry trade” (including 139 younger than 18 years) reveal on the one hand excessive offences against currently counting guidelines concerning labour time. Regarding the work starting time 6 a.m. is recommended for adolescents in general. For this trade the work starting time can be preponed, but not before 4 a.m. Furthermore the length of daily work should be 8 hrs in general; this can be extended up to 9 hrs for once under the condition of balancing the daily working time to an average of 8 hrs. Regarding the documented offences it is important to stick stronger to the statutory provisions than before.

The first part of the report is based on accident statistics of the "Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung" [German statutory accident insurance] for the branches of gastronomy and bakery and pastry trade. The accident risk of various weekdays, daytimes and working hours has been analysed. Overall the analysis of both branches reveals explicit differences between adolescent and adult apprentices. In both branches an analysis of week days cannot be carried out because of an irregular distribution of schooldays. Working times during the late evening and during the early morning induce a higher risk for adolescents. Especially in gastronomy after the ninth working hour creates an additional risk for adolescents. In "bakery and pastry trade" the results cannot be interpreted satisfyingly due to the low number of cases and a heavy aggregation of data.

Please download the complete report "Effects of work accomplished by adolescents early morning hours" (in German only).