Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment

Article 1. Each Member for which this Convention is in force undertakes to
pursue a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child
labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for admission to
employment or work to a level consistent with the fullest physical and
mental development of young persons.

Article 2. 1. Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall specify, in
a declaration appended to its ratification, a minimum age for admission to
employment or work within its territory and on means of transport registered
in its territory; subject to Articles 4 to 8 of this Convention, no one
under that age shall be admitted to employment or work in any occupation.

2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention may subsequently notify
the Director-General of the International Labour Office, by further
declarations, that it specifies a minimum age higher than that previously
specified.

3. The minimum age specified in pursuance of paragraph 1 of this Article
shall not be less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and,
in any case, shall not be less than 15 years.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Article, a Member
whose economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed may,
after consultation with the organisations of employers and workers
concerned, where such exist, initially specify a minimum age of 14 years.

5. Each Member which has specified a minimum age of 14 years in pursuance
of the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall include in its reports
on the application of this Convention submitted under article 22 of the
Constitution of the International Labour Organisation’ a statement

(a) that its reason for doing so subsists; or

(b) that it renounces its right to avail itself of the provisions in
question as from a stated date.

Article 3. 1. The minimum age for admission to any type of employment or
work which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is
likely to jeopardise the health, safety or morals of young persons shall not
be less than 18 years.

2. The types of employment or work to which paragraph 1 of this Article
applies shall be determined by national laws or regulations or by the
competent authority, after consultation with the organisations of employers
and workers concerned, where such exist.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, national
laws or regulations or the competent authority may, after consultation with
the organisations of employers and workers concerned, where such exist,
authorise employment or work as from the age of 16 years on condition that
the health, safety and morals of the young persons concerned are fully
protected and that the young persons have received adequate specific
instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity.

Article 4. 1. In so far as necessary, the competent authority, after
consultation with the organisations of employers and workers concerned,
where such exist, may exclude from the application of this Convention
limited categories of employment or work in respect of which special and
substantial problems of application arise.

2. Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall list in its first report
on the application of the Convention submitted under article 22 of the
Constitution of International Labour Organisation any categories which may
have been excluded in pursuance of paragraph 1 of this Article, giving the
reasons for such exclusion, and shall state in subsequent reports the
position of its law and practice in respect of the categories excluded and
the extent to which effect has been given or is proposed to be given to the
Convention in respect of such categories.

3. Employment or work covered by Article 3 of this Convention shall not be
excluded from the application of the Convention in pursuance of this
Article.

Article 5. 1. A Member whose economy and administrative facilities are
insufficiently developed may, after consultation with the organisations of
employers and workers concerned, where such exist, initially limit the scope
of application of this Convention.

2. Each Member which avails itself of the provisions of paragraph 1 of this
Article shall specify, in a declaration appended to its ratification, the
branches of economic activity or types of undertakings to which it will
apply the provisions of the Convention.

3. The provisions of the Convention shall be applicable as a minimum to the
following: mining and quarrying; manufacturing; construction; electricity,
gas and water; sanitary services; transport, storage and communication; and
plantations and other agricultural undertakings mainly producing for
commercial purposes, but excluding family and small-scale holdings producing
for local consumption and not regularly employing hired workers.

4. Any Member which has limited the scope of application of this Convention
in pursuance of this Article

(a) shall indicate in its reports under article 22 of the Constitution of
the International Labour Organisation the general position as regards
the employment or work of young persons and children in the branches
of activity which are excluded from the scope of application of this
Convention and any progress which may have been made towards wider
application of the provisions of the Convention;

(b) may at any time formally extend the scope of application by a
declaration addressed to the Director-General of the International
Labour Office.

Article 6. This Convention does not apply to work done by children and young
persons in schools for general, vocational or technical Education or in
other training institutions, or to work done by persons at least 14 years
of age in undertakings, where such work is carried out in accordance with
conditions prescribed by the competent authority, after consultation with
the organisations of employers and workers concerned, where such exist, and
is an integral part of

(a) a course of Education or training for which a school or training
institution is primarily responsible;

(b) a programme of training mainly or entirely in an undertaking, which
programme has been approved by the competent authority; or

(c) a programme of guidance or orientation designed to facilitate the
choice of an occupation or of a line of training.

Article 7. 1. National laws or regulations may permit the employment or work
of persons 13 to 15 years of age on light work which is

(a) not likely to be harmful to their health or development; and

(b) not such as to prejudice their attendance at school, their
participation in vocational orientation or training programmes
approved by the competent authority or their capacity to benefit from
the instruction received.

2. National laws or regulations may also permit the employment or work of
persons who are at least 15 years of age but have not yet completed their
compulsory schooling on work which meets the requirements set forth in sub-
paragraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article.

3. The competent authority shall determine the activities in which
employment or work may be permitted under paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article
and shall prescribe the number of hours during which and the conditions in
which such employment or work may be undertaken.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, a
Member which has availed itself of the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article
2 may, for as long as it continues to do so, substitute the ages 12 and 14
for the ages 13 and 15 in paragraph 1 and the age 14 for the age 15 in
paragraph 2 of this Article.

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment 2, Conventions: Chronological Index 1971-1990, Education, History of Working Time, Human Rights conventions.