Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Uzbekistan (Ratification: 2009)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Scope of application and labour inspection. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Labour Code, and its provisions relating to the minimum age of admission to employment or work, did not appear to apply to work performed outside of a labour agreement between an employer and an employee, such as self-employment or work in the informal economy.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report that according to section 9 of the Labour Code and Government Decision No. 29 of 2010, the monitoring and supervision of compliance with labour laws and labour protection rules, including the employment of children and young persons in occupations with unfavourable working conditions, is exercised by specially authorized state legal and technical inspectors from the Ministry of Labour and workers’ organizations. The Government also indicates that the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan carries out public monitoring on compliance with labour laws in respect of minors. Recalling that the Convention applies to all branches of economic activity, and covers all types of employment or work, whether or not there is contractual employment and whether or not the work is remunerated, the Committee requests that the Government take the necessary measures to ensure that children who are not bound by an employment relationship, such as children performing unpaid work, work in the informal economy or work on a self-employed basis, benefit from the protection provided by the Convention. In this regard, the Committee requests that the Government take the necessary measures to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the state legal and technical labour inspectorate so as to enable it to monitor child labour in the informal economy. The Committee requests that the Government provide information on any measures taken in this regard.

Article 6. Vocational training and apprenticeship. The Committee previously noted the Government’s statement in its report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child that a national professional training programme was being implemented, designed to cover all pupils completing the nine grades of the vocational education system and to give students a specific profession in addition to a general secondary education.

The Committee observes that the requirement of completion of nine years of education for national professional training programmes, as stated above by the Government, indicates that a child will be 15 years of age in order to fulfil this requirement. The Committee notes the Government’s information that for the purpose of preparing young people for work, students at general schools, specialized secondary schools and vocational training institutions who have reached the age of 15 years may be employed for light work, outside of school hours. The Government further states that based on the requirements of the Convention, “Regulations for the Practical Training of Students in Enterprises” and “Measures for the Development and Expansion of Family Businesses and Craft Activities” were developed and approved, with special provisions guaranteeing the rights and additional protections stipulated by labour and labour protection law in respect of young persons. The Committee finally notes the Government’s indication that information from trade unions suggests that minors under the age of 18 years are not employed in businesses and organizations.

Article 9(1). Penalties. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes that according to section 49 of the Code on Administrative Responsibility, violation of the legislation on labour and labour protection related to minors is punishable by a fine of two to five times the minimum wage. Section 49-1 further states that the employment of minors in work that can harm their health, safety or morals is punishable by a fine of one to three times the minimum wage. The Committee requests that the Government provide information on the application of these penalties in practice.

Article 9(3). Keeping of registers. The Committee notes that according to section 80 of the Labour Code, the documents required while hiring a person for a job include: passport or equivalent document, and for persons under the age of 16 years, a birth certificate; and military ID registration for military conscripts. Moreover, according to section 81 of the Labour Code, an employer is obliged to keep employment records of all employees and a workbook containing the information related to his/her hiring.