PREAMBLE
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
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
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. 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.
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.
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 organisations of employers and workers
concerned, where such exist, initially specify a minimum age of 14 years.
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
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.
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. 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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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 organisations 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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
2. National laws or regulations or the competent authority shall define
the persons responsible for compliance with the provisions giving effect to
the Convention.
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.
Article 10
1. This Convention revises, on the terms set forth in this Article, 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.
2. The coming into force of this Convention shall not close 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, or the
Minimum Age (Underground Work) Convention, 1965, to further ratification.
3. The Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 1919, the Minimum Age (Sea)
Convention, 1920, the Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention, 1921, and the
Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 1921, shall be closed to
further ratification when all the parties thereto have consented to such
closing by ratification of this Convention or by a declaration communicated
to the Director-General of the International Labour Office.
4. When the obligations of this Convention are accepted--
(a) by a Member which is a party to the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention
(Revised), 1937, and a minimum age of not less than 15 years is specified in
pursuance of Article 2 of this Convention, this shall ipso jure involve the
immediate denunciation of that Convention,
(b) in respect of non-industrial employment as defined in the Minimum Age
(Non-Industrial Employment) Convention, 1932, by a Member which is a party
to that Convention, this shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation
of that Convention,
(c) in respect of non-industrial employment as defined in the Minimum Age
(Non-Industrial Employment) Convention (Revised), 1937, by a Member which is
a party to that Convention, and a minimum age of not less than 15 years is
specified in pursuance of Article 2 of this Convention, this shall ipso jure
involve the immediate denunciation of that Convention,
(d) in respect of maritime employment, by a Member which is a party to
the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention (Revised), 1936, and a minimum age of not
less than 15 years is specified in pursuance of Article 2 of this Convention
or the Member specifies that Article 3 of this Convention applies to
maritime employment, this shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation
of that Convention,
(e) in respect of employment in maritime fishing, by a Member which is a
party to the Minimum Age (Fishermen) Convention, 1959, and a minimum age of
not less than 15 years is specified in pursuance of Article 2 of this
Convention or the Member specifies that Article 3 of this Convention applies
to employment in maritime fishing, this shall ipso jure involve the
immediate denunciation of that Convention,
(f) by a Member which is a party to the Minimum Age (Underground Work)
Convention, 1965, and a minimum age of not less than the age specified in
pursuance of that Convention is specified in pursuance of Article 2 of this
Convention or the Member specifies that such an age applies to employment
underground in mines in virtue of Article 3 of this Convention, this shall
ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of that Convention, if and when
this Convention shall have come into force.
5. Acceptance of the obligations of this Convention--
(a) shall involve the denunciation of the Minimum Age (Industry)
Convention, 1919, in accordance with Article 12 thereof,
(b) in respect of agriculture shall involve the denunciation of the
Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention, 1921, in accordance with Article 9
thereof,
(c) in respect of maritime employment shall involve the denunciation of
the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention, 1920, in accordance with Article 10
thereof, and of the Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 1921, in
accordance with Article 12 thereof, if and when this Convention shall have
come into force.
Articles 11-18: Standard final provisions
Date of coming into force: 19 June 1976
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