Act respecting labour standards Chapter IV - Larbour standards (Section 39.1 to 97)

School hours

No employer may have work performed during school hours by a child subject to compulsory school attendance.

In addition, no employer may have work performed by such a child for more than 17 hours per week or for more than 10 hours from Monday to Friday. However, these prohibitions do not apply to any period of more than seven consecutive days during which no educational service is offered to the child.

1999, c. 52, s. 11; 2023, c. 11, s. 3

Interpretation

The obligation to attend school is established in section 14 of the Education Act (R.S.Q. c. I-13.3):

"14. Every child resident in Québec shall attend school from the first day of the school calendar in the school year following that in which he attains 6 years of age until the last day of the school calendar in the school year in which he attains 16 years of age or at the end of which he obtains a diploma awarded by the Minister, whichever occurs first."

Implementing rules

For the work schedule of a child subject to compulsory school attendance to comply with the Act, two conditions must be met:

1. The total number of hours worked from Monday to Friday must not exceed 10 hours.
2. The total number of hours worked per week must not exceed 17 hours.

The exception applicable to any period of more than seven consecutive days during which no educational service is offered to the child includes summer vacation, the Holiday period and spring break.

Examples of calculations

Example	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	TOTAL
1	-	-	-	4	-	7	-	11
2	8	-	-	-	-	-	8	16
3	-	-	5	-	5	-	7	17

Example 1: The schedule does not comply with the Act, since the total number of hours worked from Monday to Friday exceeds 10 hours, despite the fact that the total number of hours worked per week does not exceed 17 hours.

Examples 2 and 3: The schedules comply with the Act, since the total number of hours worked per week does not exceed 17 hours, and the total number of hours worked from Monday to Friday does not exceed 10 hours.