Examination required for paper round in the UK

I've just been chatting with a guy who told me that in 1966 when he was thirteen, in order to have a paper round he had to have a medical to obtain a license. He said the medical was very thorough and included a genital examination. I fail to see why a genital exam would be necessary.

I can remember needing a license for certain activities back then. I was performing music in pubs at that age and did indeed require a license from the local authority. I did have a medical but not very in depth and no examination of the genitals was carried out.

Do any UK members have any information on this?

I was a newspaper delivery boy in Nottinghamshire, commencing in 1965, just after I turned 13. I was employed by a local newsagents shop and I had known the proprietors since I was a very young boy. In my case, I most certainly did not have to undergo any form of medical examination. I had a very informal interview and that was that. The only consideration / law (child employment I imagine) was that I could not do the job until I was 13. I suppose different Local Authorities /Councils may have had their own rules / regulations?So...definitely no medical required for me (though Lord knows, I had more than my fair share in other contexts!!).

Sounds strange to me

Dont remember there being any form of medical either at school, and definitly not for work at 16,

The only quick medical of any sort was around 1970 ish and that was everyone had a multi needle injection at school, and i think that was some sort of TB test ?

I remember a school-friend took a 'Saturday job' (ie working on a Saturday and a few hours after school in the week). He was working as a shop assistant and said that he had to have a medical before starting. This would have been in the mid 1970s

I think this was required by the local authority, rather than the employers. If so, the practice was probably discontinued at the same time as school medicals.

My BS radar is going mad with that story Rockdoc.

Peace.

Caz

Sounds fishy.

I did a paper round while at school. You had to be a minimum age of 13 if I remember correctly but who was going to do a medical, the bloke who own the newsagents? You certainly didn't need a license or anything like that, it was just a casual job that a lot of boys did back then. When you started proper jobs after you left school then you were normally required to have medicals as part of the induction. The medicals were quite basic but I was normally told to drop my pants and cough, but there was no touching of the genitals. Sorry but I think the paper round story is BS !

I applied at 16 to a local supermarket for a Saturday job.

No medical was required but they did ask for details about any existing illness, condition or treatment. I was too embarrassed to put down about the treatment that I was having for my development so left that part blank.

Then at the end of the form I had to sign to give them permission to ask for my medical records if they wanted to. I was scared that they would do this and went to the interview terrified that they might have found out and would confront me with it.

Even worse if I'd have had to undergo another medical before starting!

I too had a paper round in Nottingham at the age of 13. The newsagent would have got into serious trouble for employing younger girls/boys. As far as I remember, all I had to do was to prove I was over 13 which was easy as my parents had known the newsagent all my life.

So the story about having such detailed medical examinations as suggested is just a bit of fantasy I am afraid. (Zity is full of that sort of thing. That us what the site is for)

However, an additional comment about paper rounds is that, looking back, I think it was doing me a lot of good with the "forced" exercise you took every morning and evening. I remember later when I was in full time work, I often suggested to girls and boys of that age that they might benefit by taking up a paper round.

In the early 80s when I did a paper run the only requirement was a willingness to be utterly exploited; being paid roughly £1 to deliver about 80 papers in the pissing rain. Certainly there was no proof of fitness or other medical consideration needed. I think it was a requirement to be over 13 y/o but I don't recall that even being checked.

It was also an early introduction to the concept of 'lying time' whereby an employer withholds your first week's pay in case you leave without working your notice. You did get the money eventually when you left but looking back I can only think FFS, it's only a paper run????!!!

When I was a teenager, anybody under some age (14 maybe?) had to get “working papers” in order to get a job. They were processed at school, and one of the requirements was a medical exam. The medical bit was a generic requirement, not specific to the job, but possible that this is something similar.

I wonder why an exam would be required to deliver newspaper, but hey take whatever chance you can get right?

I'd be very surprised if this ever actually happened.

I fail to see why a genital exam would be necessary.

Perhaps Hernia Check? I could see a teen boy dropping a gonad on Sundays!

When I was 14, I wanted to start working a summer job so I could save money to be able to get my driver’s license and a beater car when I turned 16. I remember that my mom had to get what was called back then a work permit from the school. (I don’t know if they call it something else now). It was required for minors under 16 years of age. It was basically a sheet of paper that gave the employer permission to hire me, signed by my parents and the school, and stated the work restrictions because I was under 16. Things like hours of work I was allowed to work per day and week, no operation of most types of machinery allowed, etc. It had a section that had to be signed by a doctor stating that I was medically cleared to work. I don’t remember having to have a physical for that. I think my mom just brought the form to my doctor to sign, which he did. I think he signed it without examining me because I was getting annual physicals at the end of every summer before starting the new school year.

I remember that my mom had to get what was called back then a work permit from the school.

I also remember getting a "work permit" in order to get a job while I was still in school. It was required for anyone 16 and under. And in my case, it did require a physical exam by my doctor, and that included a hernia exam.

I recall having a discussion with a friend from the USA (on a different site) about a similar subject. He too mentioned that he had to have a work permit as a teenager. Yes, he had to have a medical and the doctor really 'creeped him out'. But that was the USA.

I am 100% certain that there was absolutely no requirement whatsoever for 13 yr old boys (UK) to have any kind of medical / physical assessment / examination prior to taking on a newspaper delivery round. I certainly never had such an examination, nor any of my school friends. Nor have I ever met anyone in adult life, who has ever reflected back about having a medical before becoming a paperboy.

I concur with the other British members. I can think of at least three friends I knew had paper rounds at that age. Never was any question of medical fitness even hinted at when they spoke of starting this job. The only consideration was punctuality and whether the newspapers were actually delivered to the correct addresses.

I too was 13 in 1966 and lived in Hayes Middlesex. At 13 it was necessary to have a work permit for my paper round which indeed required a medical which was performed at the Minet Clinic in Coldharbour Lane, Hayes.

My medical was performed by 2 doctors, one taking notes. Height weight and various checks were performed undressed to my underpants although they were removed for "cough please, and again" and also bending over for a check on my spine curvature.

A female school friend had a similar experience.

I can't imagine this medical was confined to the Hayes and Harlington councils requirements?

#jaguar. I guess it is impossible to know for absolutely certain. Different Local Authorities may indeed have had their own rules / guidelines. All I can say is that everyone I have ever known (especially during the 1960s /1970s) who did newspaper delivery rounds in their teens did not need any kind of permit, nor did they have to have a medical assessment of any type. This was in the East Midlands in my own case.