ILO Convention No. 138
Minimum Age Convention, 1973
The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the
International Labour Office, and having met in its Fifty-eighth Session
on 6 June 1973, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with
regard to minimum age for admission to employment, which is the fourth
item on the agenda of the session, and
Noting the terms of the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention,
1919, the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention, 1920, the Minimum Age
(Agriculture) Convention, 1921, the Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers)
Convention, 1921, the Minimum Age (Non-Industrial Employment)
Convention, 1932, the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention (Revised), 1936, the
Minimum Age (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1937, the Minimum Age
(Non-Industrial Employment) Convention (Revised), 1937, the Minimum Age
(Fishermen) Convention, 1959, and the Minimum Age (Underground Work)
Convention, 1965, and
Considering that the time has come to establish a general
instrument on the subject, which would gradually replace the existing
ones applicable to limited economic sectors, with a view to achieving
the total abolition of child labour, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an
international Convention, adopts the twenty-sixth day of June of the
year one thousand nine hundred and seventy-three, the following
Convention, which may be cited as the Minimum Age Convention, 1973:
Article 1
1. Each Member for which
this Convention is in force undertakes to pursue a national policy
designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise
progressively the minimum age for admission to employment or work to a
level consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of
young persons.
Article 2
2. (1) Each Member which
ratifies this Convention shall specify, in a declaration appended to
its ratification, a minimum age for admission to employment or work
within its territory and on means of transport registered in its
territory; subject to Articles 4 to 8 of this Convention, no one under
that age shall be admitted to employment or work in any occupation.
2. (2) Each Member which has ratified this Convention may subsequently notify the Director-
General
of the International Labour Office, by further declarations, that it
specifies a minimum age higher than that previously specified.
2. (3) The minimum age specified in pursuance of paragraph 1
of this Article shall not be less than the age of completion of
compulsory schooling and, in any case, shall not be less than 15 years.
2. (4) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 3 of this
Article, a Member whose economy and educational facilities are
insufficiently developed may, after consultation with the organizations
of employers and workers concerned, where such exist, initially specify
a minimum age of 14 years.
2. (5) Each Member which has specified a minimum age of 14
years in pursuance of the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall
include in its reports on the application of this Convention submitted
under article 22 of the constitution of the International Labour
Organisation, a statement--
(a) that its reason for doing so subsists; or
(b) that it renounces its right to avail itself of the provisions in question as from a stated date.
Article 3
3. (1) The minimum age for
admission to any type of employment or work which by its nature or the
circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardise the
health, safety or morals of young persons shall not be less than 18
years.
3. (2) The types of employment or work to which paragraph 1
of this Article applies shall be determined by national laws or
regulations or by the competent authority, after consultation with the
organisations of employers and workers concerned, where such exist.
3. (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this
Article, national laws or regulations or the competent authority may,
after consultation with the organisations of employers and workers
concerned, where such exist, authorise employment or work as from the
age of 16 years on condition that the health, safety and morals of the
young persons concerned are fully protected and that the young persons
have received adequate specific instruction or vocational training in
the relevant branch of activity.
Article 4
4. (1) In so far as
necessary, the competent authority, after consultation with the
organisations of employers and workers concerned, where such exist, may
exclude from the application of this Convention limited categories of
employment or work in respect of which special and substantial problems
of application arise.
4. (2) Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall list
in its first report on the application of the Convention submitted
under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour
Organisation any categories which may have been excluded in pursuance
of paragraph 1 of this Article, giving the reasons for such exclusion,
and shall state in subsequent reports the position of its law and
practice in respect of the categories excluded and the extent to which
effect has been given or is proposed to be given to the Convention in
respect of such categories.
4. (3) Employment or work covered by Article 3 of this
Convention shall not be excluded from the application of the Convention
in pursuance of this Article.
Article 5
5. (1) A Member whose
economy and administrative facilities are insufficiently developed may,
after consultation with the organisations of employers and workers
concerned, where such exist, initially limit the scope of application
of this Convention.
5. (2) Each Member which avails itself of the provisions of
paragraph 1 of this Article shall specify, in a declaration appended to
its ratification, the branches of economic activity or types of
undertakings to which it will apply the provisions of the Convention.
5. (3) The provisions of the Convention shall be applicable
as a minimum to the following: mining and quarrying; manufacturing;
construction; electricity, gas and water; sanitary services; transport,
storage and communication; and plantations and other agricultural
undertakings mainly producing for commercial purposes, but excluding
family and small-scale holdings producing for local consumption and not
regularly employing hired workers.
5. (4) Any Member which has limited the scope of application of this Convention in pursuance of this Article:
(a) shall indicate in its reports under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation the general position as regards the employment or work of young persons and children in the branches of activity which are excluded from the scope of application of this Convention and any progress which may have been made towards wider application of the provisions of the Convention;
(b) may at any time formally extend the scope of application by a declaration addressed to the Director-General of the International Labour Office.
Article 6
6. This Convention does
not apply to work done by children and young persons in schools for
general, vocational or technical education or in other training
institutions, or to work done by persons at least 14 years of age in
undertakings, where such work is carried out in accordance with
conditions prescribed by the competent authority, after consultation
with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, where such
exist, and is an integral part of:
(a) a course of education or training for which a school or training institution is primarily responsible;
(b) a programme of training mainly or entirely in an undertaking, which programme has been approved by the competent authority; or
(c) a programme of guidance or orientation designed to facilitate the choice of an occupation or of a line of training.
Article 7
7. (1) National laws or
regulations may permit the employment or work of persons 13 to 15 years
of age on light work which is:
(a) not likely to be harmful to their health or development; and
(b) not such as to prejudice their attendance at school, their participation in vocational orientation or training programmes approved by the competent authority or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received.
7. (2) National laws or regulations may also permit the
employment or work of persons who are at least 15 years of age but have
not yet completed their compulsory schooling on work which meets the
requirements set forth in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of
this Article.
7. (3) The competent authority shall determine the
activities in which employment or work may be permitted under
paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article and shall prescribe the number of
hours during which and the conditions in which such employment or work
may be undertaken.
7. (4) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2
of this Article, a Member which has availed itself of the provisions of
paragraph 4 of Article 2 may, for as long as it continues to do so,
substitute the ages 12 and 14 for the ages 13 and 15 in paragraph 1 and
the age 14 for the age 15 in paragraph 2 of this Article.
Article 8
8. (1) After consultation
with the organisations of employers and workers concerned, where such
exist, the competent authority may, by permits granted in individual
cases, allow exceptions to the prohibition of employment or work
provided for in Article 2 of this Convention, for such purposes as
participation in artistic performances.
8. (2) Permits so granted shall limit the number of hours
during which and prescribe the conditions in which employment or work
is allowed.
Article 9
9. (1) All necessary
measures, including the provision of appropriate penalties, shall be
taken by the competent authority to ensure the effective enforcement of
the provisions of this Convention.
9. (2) National laws or regulations or the competent
authority shall define the persons responsible for compliance with the
provisions giving effect to the Convention.
9. (3) National laws or regulations or the competent
authority shall prescribe the registers or other documents which shall
be kept and made available by the employer; such registers or documents
shall contain the names and ages or dates of birth, duly certified
wherever possible, of persons whom he employs or who work for him and
who are less than 18 years of age.