Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2003, publiée 92ème session CIT (2004)

Convention (n° 138) sur l'âge minimum, 1973 - Dominique (Ratification: 1983)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report indicates that there has been no change in the legislation or practice since the last report on the Convention. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments on the following matters.

1. It recalls that the Government has been asked to give effect to several provisions of the Convention since its ratification. The Committee points out in particular that the minimum age for admission to employment or work, which was specified to be 15 years when Dominica ratified the Convention, has not been ensured in the national legislation.

2. Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee recalls that, under section 3 of the Employment of Children Prohibition Ordinance, the minimum age of admission to employment was 12 years and that, under section 4, subsections 1 and 5, of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Ordinance, the minimum age is 14 years. The Government, however, specified a minimum age of 15 years when it ratified the Convention. It urges the Government to take necessary measures in order to raise the statutory minimum age to 15 years, in accordance with this provision of the Convention.

The Committee further noted that the statutory provisions on minimum age applied only to persons employed under an employment relationship or under a contract of employment, whereas the Convention also covered work performed outside any employment relationship, including work performed by young persons on their own account. The Committee hopes that the Government will indicate the measures taken or envisaged to give full effect to the Convention on this point.

3. Article 3. The Committee recalls that no higher minimum age had been fixed for work which is likely to jeopardize the health, safety or morals of young people, other than night work. It urges the Government to take measures so as to set such higher minimum age(s) in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention, and to determine the types of employment or work to which higher minimum age(s) should apply, in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 2, of the Convention.

4. Article 7. The Committee noted that the national legislation allowed exceptions to the above minimum ages as regards the employment of children under the age of 12 years in domestic work or agricultural work of a light nature at home by the parents or guardian of such children (section 3 of the Employment of Children Prohibition Ordinance) and the employment of children under the age of 14 years in an undertaking or on a ship where only members of the same family are employed (section 4, subsection 1 and section 5, of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Ordinance). The Committee recalls that under this Article of the Convention, 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. Another condition is that the activities involved and the conditions of work and employment should be determined by the competent authority. It hopes that the Government will take measures to restrict, in accordance with this provision, the possibility to employ children below the minimum age specified, and to determine the activities and conditions of their employment or work.

As regards the Government’s reference to the work of family members as the category excluded under Article 4, the Committee points out that the exceptions under this provision must be listed in the first report after ratification, and that the Government declared in its first report, received in February 1988, that no use was made of this provision.

5. Article 9, paragraph 3. The Committee noted that section 8, subsection 1, of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Ordinance provided for the keeping of registers or lists of young persons of less than 16 years of age, whereas the Convention describes the keeping of such registers of persons of less than 18 years of age. It notes the Government’s indication that this provision is not applied in practice. The Committee would nevertheless point out that the Government has an obligation to give effect to the provisions of the Convention in law and practice and therefore asks the Government to take necessary measures so that registers or other documents are kept by the employer concerning workers younger than 18 years of age.

6. The Committee noted the Government’s indication that the provisions of the Convention are upheld by custom and practice. Pending the necessary amendments to the legislative provisions as requested above, the Committee asks the Government to supply detailed information on how the Convention is applied in practice, as required under Part V of the report form, including, for instance, extracts from official reports, statistics, and information on inspection visits made and contraventions reported.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future. It further requests the Government to provide information on any progress made on the matters that have been raised, and reminds the Government that it may avail itself of ILO technical assistance in this regard.