Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Belize (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report, due since 2014, has not been received. In light of its urgent appeal launched to the Government in 2019, the Committee proceeds with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal.

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy for the effective abolition of child labour. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the establishment of the National Child Labour Committee (NCLC) tasked with overseeing the implementation of the national child labour policy. The Committee notes from the 2018 Government’s report to the Human Rights Council that the NCLC is in charge of drafting a National Action Plan to reduce child labour in the context of the Country Level Engagement and Assistance to Reduce (CLEAR) Child Labour II project (A/HRC/W/G.6/31/BLZ/1 para. 79). The Committee also notes that in the context of the CLEAR Child Labour II project, a Legislative Review Committee (LRC) was established to review the national legislation concerning child labour and make recommendations (Ministry of Labour, Child Labour in Belize, Press release January 31, 2020). The Committee further notes the adoption of the Children’s Agenda 2017-2030, which outlines the Government’s commitments towards children. One of the national outcomes of this Agenda is to achieve economic security for children and access to ongoing education and training. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the National Action Plan to reduce child labour has been adopted and, if so, to provide a copy of it in its next report. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken or envisaged under the Children’s Agenda 2017 - 2030 aimed at ensuring the effective abolition of child labour.

Article 2(1). Scope of application. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that pursuant to section 164(1) of the Labour Act, no person shall employ a child (defined by section 2 of the Act as a person who is under the age of fourteen years) in a public or private industrial undertaking or in a branch thereof. The Committee also noted that pursuant to section 3 of the Shop Act no person under the age of fourteen years shall be employed in or about any shop. In this regard, the Committee recalled that the scope of application of the Convention is not limited to industrial undertakings or shops but to all types of work or employment.

The Committee notes that the LRC has recommended amending section 169 of the Labour Act to include a provision stating that the minimum age for a child to be in full-time employment is when the child has attained 16 years of age and has completed compulsory education. The Committee, however, notes that the LRC has also recommended amending section 164(1) of the Labour Act (which previously set the minimum age at 14 years) in order to set the minimum age for admission to employment in public and private undertakings at 13 years of age (See: Legislation Review Committee (LRC) Recommendations). In light of the contradiction between these two proposed amendments, the Committee requests the Government to clarify what the general minimum age for admission to employment or work is under the LRC recommendations. If it is 13 years, the Committee requests the Government to ensure that the minimum age for admission to employment is set at 14 years in light of the minimum age specified by the Government upon ratification of the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate if a draft bill amending the Labour Act has been elaborated and, if so, to provide a copy thereof along with its next report.

Article 2(3). Minimum age for completion of compulsory schooling. The Committee notes the adoption of the Education and Training Act, 2010 (No. 3 of 2010), which under section 2 sets the minimum age for completion of compulsory schooling at 14 years of age.

Article 3(1) and (2). Minimum age for admission to and determination of hazardous work. The Committee previously noted that according to section 7 of the Families and Children Act, Chapter 173, no children under the age of 18 shall be employed in any activity that may be detrimental to his health, education, or mental, physical or moral development. The Committee also noted that a list of types of hazardous work prohibited for children under 18 years was incorporated as an appendix to the National Child Labour Policy, but observed that such policy was not a piece of legislation, but a guideline policy.

The Committee notes that the LRC has recommended to insert, into the Labour Act, an illustrative list of hazardous types of work that should be prohibited for children under the age of 18, which includes: work that exposes a child to physical, psychological, or sexual abuse; work that is performed underground, under water, at dangerous heights, or in confined spaces; work with dangerous machinery, equipment, and tools, or which involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads; work in an unhealthy environment, which may expose a child to dangerous substances, agents, or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations damaging to their health; work under particularly difficult conditions such as work for long hours or between the hours of 6 pm and 6 am, or work where the child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer; and work that exceeds two hours on a school day or six hours on a non-school day, and in any case exceeds twenty-eight hours per week except, during school vacation periods or where the child has completed compulsory education. The Committee further notes that the LRC has proposed a detailed list of hazardous work to be included under the Government Workers Regulations. The Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures to adopt, without delay, a list of hazardous types of work prohibited for children under the age of 18 years, after consultation with the organisations of employers and workers concerned, and requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

Article 3(3). Employment of children from the age of 16 years in hazardous work. The Committee notes that the LRC has proposed to include a provision in the Labour Act allowing children aged 16 or 17 years to perform hazardous work if the work is identified as a hazard that can be mitigated, and adequate training, supervision and safety measures are provided.

Article 7. Light work. The Committee previously noted that section 169 of the Labour Act permits the employment of children from the age of 12 years in occupations that are not likely to be injurious to their life, limb, health or education, and prescribes the number of hours during which such work can be carried out. The Committee also noted that section 170 of the Labour Act provides that the Minister may authorize children below 12 years to do some light agricultural or horticultural work in their parents’ or guardians’ land only. In this respect, the Committee reminded the Government that, pursuant to Article 7(1) (4) of the Convention, only children who have reached 12 years of age can perform light work that is not likely to be harmful to their health or development, and not such as to prejudice their attendance at school, their participation in vocational orientation or training programmes or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received.

The Committee notes that the LRC has recommended raising the minimum age for light work from 12 to 13 years, subject to the conditions that such work is not likely to be harmful to a child's physical health, mental health, safety, moral or general welfare or development; and does not prejudice the child's school attendance or participation in training and vocational programs, or the child’s capacity to benefit from such instruction (See LRC’s recommendations to sections 2 and 169 of the Labour Act). The Committee further notes that the LRC has proposed a list of types of light work permitted to children from the age of 13 years to be included under the Government Workers Regulations. The Committee welcomes the recommendations made by the LRC to raise the minimum age for light work from 12 to 13 years and to adopt a list of types of light work and requests the Government to provide information on any measure taken to give effect to them. Meanwhile, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that only children who have reached the age of 12 years can perform light agricultural or horticultural work.

Article 9(1). Penalties. The Committee previously noted that section 172(1) of the Labour Act provides for penalties, including fines and imprisonment for up to two months, for employing children in contravention of the provisions of the Act. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 172(1) of the Labour Act, including on the number and nature of violations detected and penalties applied.

Article 9(3). Registers of employment. The Committee previously noted that pursuant to section 163 of the Labour Act, every employer in a public or private industrial undertaking should keep a register of the names, dates of birth, and hours of work of all employees under the age of 18 years and requested the Government to indicate the measures taken to extend the requirement of keeping such a register to other sectors of the economy. The Committee also noted the Government’s indication that, in practice, registers are kept by the individual enterprises and not submitted to a central authority and requested the Government to take measures to ensure that such registers are made available to the competent authority. The Committee notes that the LRC has recommended deleting section 163 of the Labour Act as section 16 contains a general requirement for all employers to prepare and keep one or more registers containing information of each workers. In this regard, the Committee recalls that pursuant to Article 9 (3) of the Convention such registers shall contain the names and ages or dates of birth, duly certified wherever possible, of employees who are less than 18 years of age. Thus, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that, under section 16 of the Labour Act, employers in all sectors maintain a register containing the names, age (or dates of birth) of all employed persons under the age of 18 years, and that these registers are made available by the employer to the competent authority.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated statistical information, when possible disaggregated by gender and age, on the nature, extent and trends of the labour of children and young persons working below the minimum age.