Legal Assistance with Employment Law for Young People

Questioner

My 18 year old child has been working at a cinema for a few years as a service employee. This means selling candy and drinks, starting the movie and showing people to their seats. From 17 or 18 the cash register was added and from 18 onwards also, in turns, the bar. This week, staff were told by the manager that the boss wants all 18-year-olds and 18-plussers to clean and mop the 4 halls and foyer after the films. 'So it could be later,' said the manager. My child now regularly works until 2 am on weekends and now occasionally comes home during the week at 1 am 'because it was a holiday and therefore busy', let alone when cleaning also has to be done. Until recently, this cleaning was done by a professional cleaning company in the morning. In my opinion, a function cannot simply be expanded with additional work. At the very least, there should be a conversation between employer and employee and an email with a message that things will change as of next week seems very short-sighted to me. Moreover, I think cleaning work is a very broad interpretation of service employeeship.... Refusing to do the cleaning doesn't seem like an option, since it involves 'children' who find it terrifying. My child also prefers never to ask critical questions to the employer or call for clarification, etc. And all the staff in the cinema - with the exception of the managers - are 16 to 20 years old and work there as a side job. Can't an agency even come by or look around the cinema regarding working conditions and such? Or is the above situation not unusual? (I also wonder whether it is 'allowed' that there is no canteen or other space where staff can eat and take a break when it is busy. The manager does have a small office. But the young people who work there do not get breaks when it is busy, even though they sometimes work shifts that are longer than 5 or 6 hours in a row.)

Questioner

Just to be clear, this is a part-time job.

Lawyer

For your 18 year old son, the working and rest times from the Working Hours Act apply. Some regulations are: The employer organizes the work in such a way that the employee aged 18 years or older performs work for a maximum of: a. 12 hours per shift; b. 60 hours per week, and c. an average of 48 hours per week in any period of 16 consecutive weeks. The employer organizes the work in such a way that the employee aged 18 years or older works for an average of no more than 55 hours per week in any period of 4 consecutive weeks. Employees under 18 are not allowed to work at the bar to serve alcoholic beverages. Different working and rest times apply to employees under 18 than to your son, stricter rules. As long as the employer does not exceed the maximum legal number of hours per day/week/month, there is little to be done. If there is a works council on staff representation, your son can also denounce this here or this is normal. If you think that the legislation on work and rest times and working conditions is not being complied with, you can file a complaint with the SZW Inspectorate. They can then investigate this cinema. The SZW Inspectorate used to be called the Labour Inspectorate.

Questioner

Thanks for your response. Working hours and SZW clear. Is it correct that I still miss an answer to the following questions: 1. Is it normal that suddenly, after all these years, cleaning work has to be done by the service staff that was previously done by professional cleaners. And at night? Shouldn't this be discussed with the staff first and shouldn't a contract or job description be adjusted? To be clear: this is a student's part-time job and all other service staff are also high school students or students... 2. Should there be a space to take a break and eat a sandwich during work or is it common in the catering industry to do this behind the bar or counter for sweets and popcorn? Thank you in advance.

Lawyer

Whether the service employees are allowed to perform cleaning work depends on the description in their employment contract and their job description. This can be requested from the employer. If this is not mentioned in the job description, the job cannot be changed unilaterally by the employer without consultation. As for working hours, the employer only mentions this if it concerns young people and children. Adults are also allowed to work at night. To your question about a break room, yes there should be a room where employees can take a break from work. For work longer than 4:30 hours there should be at least a break of 30 minutes. Which can also be divided into two times 15 minutes. Breaks behind the counter are not allowed, an employee must be given the opportunity to really have a break. If the employee is disturbed during his break because he still has to do work, there is also no interruption (break)