Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Chile (Ratification: 1999)

Article 9 of the Convention. Penalties, labour inspection and application in practice. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government in its report, according to which a total of 353 inspections were carried out by the Labour Department in 2023 in relation to work by children and young persons. It also notes that a total of 235 penalties were imposed during that period, with fines amounting in total to 898,230,855 Chilean pesos for violations such as: (1) engaging young persons of working age without complying with the maximum limits for working hours; (2) engaging young persons of working age in activities considered to be hazardous due to their nature and/or conditions; and (3) failing to comply with the special rules respecting schooling when engaging a young person of working age. The Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Government, the greatest number of violations were concentrated in the agriculture, stock-raising, forestry and fishing sectors, followed by construction and administrative and support activities.

The Committee also takes due note of the clarification provided by the Government in relation to the scope of section 18 quinquies of the Labour Code, which provides that, in the event that the employer commits more than three violations in relation to the engagement of persons who are not of working age or the engagement of young persons to carry out hazardous activities within a period of five years, the employer will be prohibited from engaging young persons of working age. The Government indicates that: (1) the prohibition on engaging young persons of working age is permanent, without any possibility of reversing that prohibition in future; and (2) section 18 quinquies has not been applied in practice during the period covered by the present Government report.

The Committee also takes due note of the publication of the 2023 Survey on the Activities of Boys, Girls and Young Persons (EANNA), prepared with the technical collaboration of the ILO and UNICEF. It notes that the principal results indicate that: (1) 5.4 per cent of children between the ages of five and 17 years are engaged in child labour in occupations and other economic activities, defined as remunerated activities; (2) 11.2 per cent of children between the ages of five and 17 years carry out child labour in domestic work and in unpaid and hazardous care work; (3) 1.2 per cent of young persons aged between 15 and 17 years are engaged in child labour in both forms; (4) in total, 15.5 per cent of children between the ages of five and 17 years are involved in some form of child labour; and (5) a greater proportion of boys are engaged in child labour in occupations and other economic activities (6.6 per cent of boys, compared with 4.2 per cent of girls), while girls are principally concerned by child labour in domestic work and unpaid and hazardous care work (12.3 per cent of girls, compared with 10.1 per cent of boys), especially between the ages of nine and 14. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to strengthen the capacity of the labour inspection services with a view to the effective control and detection of cases of child labour, including in the informal economy. In this regard, it requests the Government to continue providing: (i) information on the inspections carried out, including those undertaken in the informal economy, and on the number and nature of the violations detected in relation to child labour and the penalties effectively imposed; and (ii) updated statistical data on the nature, scope and trends of child labour.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.