Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 1995, publiée 83ème session CIT (1996)

Convention (n° 138) sur l'âge minimum, 1973 - Roumanie (Ratification: 1975)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report.

1. The Committee noted previously that, according to article 45(4) of the Constitution of 1991, minors under the age of 15 years may not be employed as wage-earners. Furthermore, section 7 of the 1972 Labour Code sets the minimum age for admission to wage-earning employment at 16 years and authorizes, as exceptions, the employment of young persons of 14 and 15 years of age in certain types of wage-earning jobs. It also noted the Government's statement that where there is a conflict in national legislation, the provisions of the Constitution prevail. The Committee recalls that, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention, at the time of ratification of the Convention, a minimum age for admission to employment or work of 16 years was specified. It requested the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention.

In its report, the Government indicates that article 45(4) of the Constitution has raised the age of admission to wage-earning employment from 14 years, as laid down in the Labour Code, to 15 years, in conformity with Article 1.

The Committee recalls that the Convention provides for fixing of a general minimum age for admission to employment and work, to be specified in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 1, and allows, exceptionally, a lower age of admission to work for light work, under Article 7. Now article 45(4) of the Constitution lays down a minimum age of admission applicable to all wage-earning employment (15 years) lower than the general minimum age of admission to employment (16 years) specified by the Government in application of the Convention.

From the information it has available, the Committee has not found any amendment of the texts confirming that the age of 15 years established by the Constitution covers only the exceptions authorized by the Convention. On the contrary, it emerges from the report sent by the Government (CRC/C/3/Add. 16, paragraph 30) to the Committee on the Rights of the Child entrusted with examining application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and from the discussions which took place with this committee (CRC/C/SR.122, paragraph 25), that the age of admission to wage-earning employment is set at 15 years, subject to the conditions laid down by Order No. 185/1990 of the Ministry of Employment.

The Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated to bring national legislation into conformity with the Convention on this point, specifying that access to wage-earning employment between the ages of 15 and 16 years may be allowed, exceptionally, only for work meeting the criteria set out in Article 7, paragraph 1.

2. In its previous comments, the Committee also asked the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to guarantee that the Convention applies to unpaid work or employment. In the absence of relevant information and recalling that the legislative provisions mentioned above only cover wage-earning employment, the Committee hopes that the next report will contain information on the minimum age of admission to other types of work or work.

3. The Committee notes the statistical data supplied by the Government, particularly the number of young people engaged in the education system. However, it notes that the overall data on the number of employed persons between 14 and 16 years during March 1994 gives no details on the work prohibited under article 45(4) of the Constitution. The Committee requests the Government once again to provide information on the activities of the labour inspectorate regarding the application of the legislation giving effect to the Convention, extracts from the inspection service reports and particulars of the number and nature of the violations recorded (points III and V of the report form).