Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Belgium (Ratification: 1988)

Article 3, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Convention. The Committee notes the amendments made by the Act of 21 March 1995 to the Labour Act of 16 March 1971, which do not concern the age of admission to employment, but improve certain conditions, such as working hours and weekly rest, for young workers. It recalls that section 9 of the Labour Act prohibits young workers of under 18 years of age from performing work exceeding their strength or endangering their health or morals and that the Crown determines which occupations shall in every case be deemed to fall within the above category. The Committee also recalls that sections 183quat. and 183quinq. of the General Regulations on the Protection of Labour prohibit the presence of workers under 18 years of age in workplaces or their engagement in the types of work enumerated with a view to protecting the safety and health of workers. It requests the Government to indicate the provisions which enumerate the types of work that are deemed to endanger the morals of workers of under 18 years of age and to supply information on the implementation in practice of section 9 of the above Act.

Article 3, paragraph 3. The Committee notes that sections 183quat.(3) and 183quat.(4) of the above Regulations prohibit the engagement of workers under 18 years of age on dangerous equipment and machinery, but that section 183quat.(5) excludes from the application of these provisions workers under 18 years of age who are placed under the guidance and surveillance of a monitor responsible for ensuring their vocational training. It recalls that, in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 3, of the Convention, such derogations may only be authorized as from the age of 16 years on condition that the health and safety of the young persons concerned are fully protected and that they have received adequate specific instruction or vocational training. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures which have been taken to give effect to this provision in this respect.

Article 8 and point V of the report form. With reference to the observation, the Committee requests the Government to continue supplying information on the application of the Convention in practice and particularly Article 8, and to provide, for example, relevant statistics, extracts from the reports of inspection services and information not only on the number, but also the nature of the contraventions reported.