Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

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

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the new Labour Code, promulgated in July 2022, establishes a number of measures to ensure the protection of children against child labour, including a higher minimum age for admission to work (16 years), a maximum number of working hours and a prohibition on overtime work. The Committee also notes that, under sections 1 and 22 of the Labour Code, this applies to all dependent employment relationships and also to all non-dependent work as regards the minimum wage and occupational hygiene, safety and health. The Committee observes that a number of matters related to child labour, including the minimum age for admission to work, therefore appear to apply only to formal employment relationships and not to children engaged in work that does not involve a binding employment relationship, children working on their own account, or children performing unpaid work or work in the informal economy. The Committee therefore requests the Government to clarify whether the provisions of the new Labour Code governing the work of minors (sections 346–371), except those relating to the minimum wage and occupational safety and health, only apply to formal employment relationships. If so, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that children not bound by an employment relationship, such as those working on their own account, performing unpaid work or working in the informal economy, benefit from the protection afforded by the Convention, and to provide information on this matter.

Article 9(1). Penalties. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest that section 520 of the new Labour Code reinforces the penalties for violations of the provisions on the employment of children and young persons. Under the above-mentioned section, the irregular employment of a minor in breach of sections 346(1), 349(1) and 354(1) of the Code is a violation that incurs a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment or a “fine of up to 240 days”, and in cases where the minor has not yet reached the minimum age for admission to employment or has not completed compulsory schooling, these penalties are doubled. The Committee welcomes the measures adopted by the Government and requests it to provide information on the application in practice of the penalties established in the Labour Code for violations of the provisions relating to the employment of children and young persons, both girls and boys, including information on the number and type of offences committed, and the penalties imposed. It also requests the Government to clarify whether the “fine of up to 240 days” means days of income, days of wages as an employee, or something else.

Labour inspection. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that between January 2020 and May 2021 the labour inspectorate undertook 146 inspections. In 2020, the inspections resulted in the detection of 37 cases of employment of minors. The Committee also notes the information sent by the Government on strengthening the functioning of the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate-General (IGTSS). The Government indicates, inter alia, that restructuring has taken place at the Ministry of Labour, including the merging of two inspection services into a single structure and redeployment of the staff of other ministry departments to the general inspection services. There are now 31 labour inspectors, including the inspector-general. The Government also indicates that four labour inspectors followed training on international labour standards in June 2019. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the functioning of the IGTSS and the results of inspections, including the number of inspections conducted, the violations detected in relation to child labour, and the penalties imposed.