Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2009, Publicación: 99ª reunión CIT (2010)

Convenio sobre la edad mínima, 1973 (núm. 138) - Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte (Ratificación : 2000)

Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Minimum age for admission to employment or work in England, Scotland and Wales. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted the Trade Union Congress’s (TUC) comments regarding the complexity of many relevant legislative provisions on work permitted for school-age children and the need for simplification. The Committee had noted that national legislation specifies the compulsory school age of 16 years and therefore the age up to which children cannot engage in full-time work other than light work. It had also noted that following the recommendations made by the “Better Regulation Task Force” in 2004, the Government planned to prepare an up to date authoritative guidance on the employment of children, aimed at helping those in the field to deal with both practical questions and the rational basis of the law. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s indication that it has issued the Guidance on the Employment of Children in December 2008. This guidance sets out the key provisions of the law on child employment for local authorities, employers, parents and other stakeholders to promote understanding and effective operation of the law. Though this guidance covers employment in England, separate guidance will be issued for Wales and similar legislation applies in Scotland. According to this guidance, a child reaches the “school leaving age” on the last Friday in June in the school year in which the child has his or her 16th birthday, and “employment” includes any occupation where the aim is to make a surplus. By virtue of section 4 of the guidance a child under 14 may not be employed, but allows the employment of 13 year old children in certain light occupations listed in section 5, which is similar to those listed in the model bylaw. Section 5 further states that a child under the school leaving age may only be employed to do light work and further provides for the hours of work permitted for such children which shall be two hours on any school day and Sundays, and five hours on a non-school day. Section 6 provides for a list of prohibited and restricted works for children under 18; section 8 contains penalties for contravention of the rules mentioned above; and section 9 contains the health and safety requirements for young persons.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government on the prosecutions undertaken with regard to the employment of children in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Accordingly in Great Britain, during the period from 2007 to June 2008, 13 improvement notices and two prohibition notices were issued under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (MHSW) relating to offences connected with the employment of young persons. During 2007–08, one prosecution and during 2008–09, three prosecutions were taken under the MHSW Regulations on offences related to employment of young persons which resulted in convictions with an average fine of £4,000 and £6,666, respectively. During 2008–09, one prosecution was undertaken under the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act relating to offences connected to the employment of a child under 16 years in an industrial undertaking which resulted in a conviction with a fine of £12,000, in addition to an order to pay the costs of £3,451 by the company. In Northern Ireland, during the period from 2007–08, three prosecutions were undertaken in relation to offences connected with the employment of children which resulted in a fine of £4,500 in one case and £50,000 each in the other two cases. The Committee requests the Government to continue supplying statistical data on the employment of young persons, extracts from the reports of inspection services and information on the number and nature of contraventions reported.