Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2003, publiée 92ème session CIT (2004)

Convention (n° 138) sur l'âge minimum, 1973 - Tunisie (Ratification: 1995)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government and requests it once again to provide information on the following points.

Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes with interest the creation of a Higher Children’s Council by Decree No. 2002-574 of 12 March 2002, the function of which includes monitoring the situation in the country, studying and advising on national action plans relating to children and ensuring the implementation of national action plans relating to children taking into account national priorities (section 2). The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of any reports prepared by this Council on the implementation of national action plans relating to children.

Article 2, paragraph 1. Self-employment. As the Government has not responded to the comments made in its direct requests of 2000 and 2002, the Committee is bound to reiterate the following points. The Committee noted previously that section 53 of the Labour Code fixes the minimum age for admission to employment at 16 years but does not seem to cover children engaged in self-employment. The Government had indicated that Act No. 91-65 of 29 July 1999, respecting the education system, provides for the establishment of compulsory basic education up to the age of 16 years. It considers that compulsory basic education prevents the entry of children under 16 years of age into the (waged) labour market or their engagement in self-employment. The Government also stated that the minimum age for admission to self-employment is governed by the Tunisian Commercial Code, approved by Act No. 59-129 of 5 October 1959 which, in section 6, prohibits young persons of 18 years of age from engaging in commercial activities if they have not obtained total emancipation. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures which have been adopted to give effect in practice to section 6 of the above Act. It also requests the Government to indicate the conditions for obtaining total emancipation, and in particular the minimum age required.

Family enterprises. The Committee also noted that, by virtue of section 54(1) of the Labour Code, the employment of young persons under 16 years of age is authorized in establishments in which only family members work under the authority of the father, mother or the guardian, on condition that the employment of these children has no negative effect on their health, physical and mental development and school attendance. The Committee observed that section 54, subsection 2, states that the provisions of section 54, subsection 1, do not apply to hazardous work as defined under section 58 of the Labour Code. Furthermore, this section establishes the minimum age for admission to these types of work at 18 years. The Government also indicated that section 54(2) of the Labour Code prohibits the employment of this category of workers in types of work that, by their nature or the conditions under which they are performed, are hazardous for the life, health or morals of the persons concerned.

The Committee notes the Government’s previous statement that family enterprises are excluded from the scope of application of Article 5, paragraph 3, of the Convention. It also indicated that, despite the absence of protection in the Convention for children employed in family enterprises, the Tunisian legislation provides for such protection. The Committee reminds the Government that the list of activities or types of work included in Article 5, paragraph 3, of the Convention establishes the activities or types of work that cannot be excluded from the scope of application of the Convention. If a Government, the economy and administrative services of which have not reached a sufficient level of development, wishes to limit, for a preliminary period, the scope of application of the Convention, it must at least apply the provisions of the Convention to these activities. The Committee also recalls that, in accordance with Article 5, paragraph 2, of the Convention, it is possible to limit the scope of application of the Convention to certain branches of economic activity or certain types of enterprises by means of a declaration annexed to the ratification. As the Government did not take advantage of this flexibility clause when ratifying the Convention, it may no longer do so. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to bring the legislation relating to work in family enterprises into conformity with the provisions of Article 2 of the Convention, in particular by fixing a minimum age for admission to employment in this type of enterprise.

Article 3, paragraph 2.  The Committee noted with interest the adoption of the Order of 19 January 2000 of the Minister of Social Affairs, which fixes the types of work in which the employment of children is prohibited. It had requested the Government to communicate the Order of 10 January 1995 of the Ministers of Public Health and Social Services prescribing the list of occupational diseases in order to determine the nature of the "other" types of work, mentioned in section 1 of the Order of 19 January 2000 of the Minister of Social Affairs. The "other" types of work are prohibited because they require the handling of substances included in the list of occupational diseases. The Committee takes due note of the transmission of the above Orders which list in 84 schedules the occupational diseases caused by toxic mineral substances, fossil fuels, plastics, pesticides and other substances.

Article 7. Determination of light work. The Committee noted the Government’s indication that a decree to determine the nature of light work and the preliminary precautions to be taken when engaging children in such work, as well as the number of working hours of young persons, would be adopted in accordance with the provisions of section 56 of the Labour Code. The Committee reminds the Government that, by virtue of Article 7, paragraph 3, of the Convention, the competent authority shall determine the activities, the number of hours and the working conditions of light work. The Committee notes that section 56(2) of the Labour Code fixes the maximum number of working hours for young persons under the age of 16 years engaged in light work, and that it provides in subsection 3 that a decree will determine the nature of light work and the preliminary precautions to be taken when engaging children in such light work. Noting that there was no reference to the adoption of a decree in the last Government’s report, the Committee hopes it will take all the necessary measures with a view to adopting the decree and that a copy will be forwarded to the Office as soon as it has been adopted.

Article 8.  In its previous comments, the Committee noted with interest the Order of 19 January 2000 of the Minister of Social Affairs, which establishes the conditions under which individual permits are granted to employ children in public performances or for work in the movie industry. The Committee notes that the Government consulted the representative workers’ and employers’ organizations before the adoption of the above Order. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the Order, in accordance with Article 8, paragraph 2, of the Convention, establishes the conditions under which such individual permits are granted and in particular whether it limits the number of hours of employment of the work authorized.

Part III of the report form. The Committee notes that, by virtue of sections 20, 26 and 30 of the Code for the Protection of Children, the act of engaging a child in work likely to prevent school attendance, or which is harmful to his or her health, physical or moral integrity, is considered economic exploitation and constitutes one of the difficult situations requiring the intervention of a child protection delegate. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply a copy of Act No. 2000-53 of 22 May 2000, which supplements the above Code, as well as information on the types of difficult situations observed and the measures taken to bring them to an end. It also requests the Government to indicate whether the decree establishing the status, the fields of intervention and the means of action of social services and bodies, and in particular of child protection delegates, have been adopted as provided for under section 28(2) of the Labour Code.

Part V of the report form. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice and it would be grateful in particular if the Government would supply statistics on the employment of children and young persons, extracts from the reports of inspection services, details on the number and nature of the violations reported and the sanctions imposed.