Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Russian Federation (Ratification: 1979)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Scope of application. Children working in the informal economy. The Committee notes with regret the absence of specific information in the Government’s report on the measures taken to ensure the protection of children under 16 years of age in the informal economy. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication in its seventh periodic report of 2022 to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that the Russian Federation continues to have a high level of youth involvement in the informal sector (E/C.12/RUS/7, 16 November 2022, paragraph 58).

The Committee notes the measures taken to combat illegal employment, including: (1) adopting the Government’s plan of measures to combat illegal employment (section 66 of the Federal Act of 12 December 2023, No. 565-FZ); (2) the establishment of interdepartmental commissions for combating illegal employment (Government’s Resolution of 3 May 2024, No. 571); and (3) the creation of a publicly accessible register of employers, who have been found to have recourse to illegal employment as of 1 January 2025 (section 6 of the Government’s Resolution of 21 February 2024, No. 194).

The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that all children under 16 years of age, including those who work on their own account or in the informal economy, benefit from the protection afforded by the Convention. The Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken in this regard, including in the framework of the measures taken to combat illegal employment.

Labour inspection and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Government, in 2022, three inspections were carried out to monitor the rights of workers under 18 years. As a result of these inspections, 11 violations of labour legislation were identified, which amounted to 0.033 per cent of the total number of violations identified in 2022 (more than 32,000 violations). The Government further indicates that violations of labour legislation regarding the rights of workers under 18 are not widespread in practice.

The Committee recalls that, in its detailed comments under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), it noted various restrictions on the powers of labour inspectors and the need to ensure the effective enforcement of the legal provisions enforceable by labour inspectors. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the labour inspectorate so that it is able to effectively monitor and detect cases of child labour, particularly in the informal economy. It further requests the Government to continue to provide information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, particularly on the number and nature of violations detected and penalties applied.