Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Pakistan (Ratification: 2006)

Previous comment

Article 4 of the Convention. Exclusion from the application of the Convention of limited categories of employment or work. The Committee takes note of the Government’s indication, in its report, that section 3(4) of the Balochistan Employment of Children (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 2021, excludes from its scope family-run establishments, and that the tripartite consultations that took place endorsed this exemption during the discussions on the finalization of the Act. The Committee further recalls that the laws in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Punjab, Sindh and ICT provide for similar exclusions and that the Government previously indicated that the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development would further discuss with the provincial governments and the social partners whether they wished to avail themselves of the possibility to exclude work in family-run establishments from the scope of the Convention, pursuant to Article 4(1). The Committee therefore again requests the Government to provide information on consultations held in Punjab, Sindh, KPK and ICT in this regard.

Article 7. Light work. The Committee notes with interest that the Balochistan Employment of Children (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 2021, defines light work as “work that is performed by children above 12 years of age and below 14 years of age, which is not likely to be harmful to their health or development; and not such as to prejudice their attendance at school, their participation in vocation orientation or training programmes approved by the competent authority or their capacity to benefit from instruction received” (section 2(1)(j)). Section 3(4)(a) of the Balochistan Employment of Children (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 2021, provides that children may engage in light work, outside of regular school hours, which does not impact on the child’s health or ability to fully benefit from education, and which supports their intellectual growth and development. The Government further indicates that a list of light work activities will be prepared and that it will notify the Committee on any progress in this regard.

The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that in the context of the labour law review in Punjab and Sindh it is considering the introduction of a minimum age for light work. The Committee also notes that the ICT administration is in the process of amending the Employment of Children Act, 1991. The Committee further notes, from the Gilit-Baltistan Child Labour Survey Report 2018-2019, that 16.4 per cent of children aged 10 to 13 years are engaged in child labour. It also notes from the Punjab Child Labour Survey Report 2019-2020 that 13.4 per cent of children aged 5 to 14 years are engaged in child labour. The Committee recalls that adopting legislation regulating light work for children under the minimum age for admission to employment ensures that children who in practice work under the minimum age are better protected (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 394). The Committee therefore requests the Government to keep it informed on the progress achieved in: (i) regulating light work in Sindh, Punjab and the ICT administration; and (ii) preparing a list of light work activities permitted to children from 12 years of age in Balochistan.