Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2024, publiée 113ème session CIT (2025)

Convention (n° 138) sur l'âge minimum, 1973 - Slovaquie (Ratification: 1997)

The Committee takes note of the observations of the Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic (KOZ SR), received on 18 March 2021. It also takes note of the Government’s reply to these observations, received on 5 November 2021.

Articles 2(3) and 7(1) of the Convention. Age of completion of compulsory schooling and minimum age for admission to light work. The Committee notes KOZ SR’s concerns about the Labour Code amendment effective from 1 March 2021. Previously, the Labour Code prohibited work for those under 15 or those over 15 still in compulsory schooling, except for light work in cultural, artistic, sports, or advertising activities. The amendment now allows any light work for those over 15 still in school, provided it does not endanger health, safety, development, or school attendance. The KOZ SR indicates that it does not support this amendment, which permits pupils over 15 to work in a wider range of sectors at a time when they are completing compulsory schooling. It further states that national legislation should conform to Article 1 of the Convention, which requires Member States to gradually raise the minimum age, and not the other way around, by extending the types of work which young persons may carry out prior to the completion of compulsory schooling. Further, the KOZ SR alleges that this amendment could harm school attendance, reduce the benefit from education, and lead some students to leave school early, especially in low-income families where income might be prioritized over education. The KOZ SR observes that this is concerning given Slovakia’s rising early school leaving rate, currently around 8 per cent.

The Committee notes the Government’s response, indicating that light work is allowed only upon request from the employer and with the relevant labour inspectorate’s approval and the competent health authority’s agreement. Employers must include in their application a description of the work, hours, location, consent from the young person’s legal representative, a medical fitness assessment, and a hazard risk assessment. The labour inspectorate then seeks the health authority’s opinion and verifies the employer’s safety measures before issuing a permit. The Government indicates that this process prevents increased school dropouts. Further, the Government states that the amendment does not allow automatic employment for those still in compulsory schooling but only expands the permitted activities upon approval.

It is the Committee’s understanding that while the Labour Code permits a wider range of light work activities to young persons who have not completed compulsory schooling, the minimum age for undertaking such light work has not been decreased and is still 15 years. Moreover, the Committee observes that, in accordance with Article 7(1) of the Convention, the appropriate safeguards for the health and safety of these young persons appear to have been duly adopted, and that the permits for undertaking such light work include the number of hours, so as to ensure that young persons who have not completed compulsory schooling are not prevented from doing so. In light of the concerns expressed by KOZ SR, however, and in light of the latest Eurostat statistics, which show that child poverty, which was at 18.4 per cent in 2020 and has been steadily increasing since (25.3 per cent in 2023), the Committee would welcome further information on the application in practice of the requests submitted by employers to engage young persons in light work activities. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the number of permits for light work activities that have been granted; (ii) the age of the young persons who have received permission to undertake light work and whether or not they have completed compulsory schooling; and (iii) the nature of the light work activities involved, as well as the number of hours permitted.