Sect. 34. Prohibition against child labour.   Persons who are under the age of 15 or who pursuant to section 13 of the Act of 13 June 1969 No. 24 relating to basic schooling are required to attend school, shall not be employed for work covered by this Act except in the cases mentioned under section 35.

Sect. 35. Exceptions.   Notwithstanding the provisions of section 34:

(a) persons aged 13 or more may be employed for light work that does not cause their health, development and schooling to suffer. The Directorate of Labour Inspection shall determine the kinds of work to be permitted under this provision. The Directorate in so doing may issue rules relating to the length of hours of work and the conditions for such work;

(b) persons aged 15 or more who are still undergoing compulsory schooling may be employed for work that does not cause their health, development and schooling to suffer. The Directorate of Labour Inspection shall issue further rules relating to the types of work to be permitted under this provision, including rules concerning the length of hours of work and the conditions for such work;

(c) persons aged 14 or more may be employed for work as part of their schooling or practical vocational guidance when the work cannot be detrimental to their health or development. The training programme involving such work shall be approved by the educational authorities. Conditions for allowing school pupils to perform work under this provision may be stipulated by the Directorate of Labour Inspection;

(d) subject to the consent of the Inspectorate of Labour, persons under the age of 15 and persons undergoing compulsory schooling may be employed in the making of commercial films, theatre performances and other performances that are not detrimental to their health, safety, development or schooling.

[Norway, Act Respecting Workers' Protection and the Working Environment, 1995]

Sect. 43. Prohibition of employment of children

(1) No person may employ a child

(a) who is under 15 years of age; or

(b) who is under the minimum school-leaving age in terms of any law, if this is 15 or older.

[South Africa, Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997]

Sect. 180. The Age of Employment.   It shall be prohibited to employ in permanent jobs persons who are under the age of 15 years.

Schoolchildren over 13 years of age may be employed in easy jobs, harmless to health and morals, off school-time upon consent of parents or persons replacing them. The list of jobs in which it is prohibited to employ schoolchildren under the age of 15 years shall be approved by the Council of Ministers...

[Latvia, Labour Code, Section 180]

Sect. 23. 8. Children may not be employed in an enterprise, even as apprentices, before the age of 14 years, except by derogation issued by regulation.

[Côte d'Ivoire, Labour Code, 1995]

Part III. Child Labour

Sect. 99. Children may not be employed in an enterprise, even as apprentices, before the age of 14 years, except by derogation issued by decree, following the opinion of the advisory labour commission, taking into account local circumstances and the work which may be required of them.

A decree shall determine the nature of the work and categories of enterprises prohibited for young persons and the age limit up to which the prohibition shall apply.

Sect. 100. The labour inspector may require the examination of children by an approved physician with a view to ascertaining that the work assigned to them does not exceed their strength. This requirement shall be compulsory at the request of those concerned.

A child may not be maintained in employment found to be beyond the child’s strength and shall be assigned to appropriate employment. If that is not possible, the contract shall be terminated with payment of the notice period.

[Niger, Labour Code, 1996]

Section 104. The work of persons under the age of eighteen must be especially adequate for their age, physical condition, and development.

Section 105. It is forbidden that persons under the age of eighteen engage in dangerous or unsanitary tasks.
However, work for persons over the age of sixteen may be permitted as long as their health, safety and morality are fully guaranteed and as long as they have received instruction or the proper professional education, specifically for the activity they will be carrying out.
The types of employment or work this section is concerned with will be determined by the regulations of this Code, after a due consultation with the Superior Board of Labor.
The prohibitions and restrictions that apply to the employment of minors do not include the work carried out in schools of general, professional or technical education of in other educational institutions.

Section 106. Dangerous work is that which may cause the death or immediate and severe harm to the physical well being of the worker. The danger that these tasks entail may come from their genuine nature or from the kinds of materials that are employed, produced or that emanate or form the residues that they may leave behind or from the use of corrosive, flammable, or explosive substances, or from the storage in any way of these substances.

The following, for example, are considered dangerous tasks:

a) The oiling, cleaning, inspection or repairing of machines or moving mechanisms;
b) Any work in which automatic or band saws, shears, knives, blades or drivers are used, as well as any other mechanical equipment whose operation requires exact knowledge and precautions, except for kitchen or butcher tools and utensils, and any used for similar purposes;
c) Underground or underwater work;
d) Work which entails the fabrication or use of explosives, fulminating, unsanitary or toxic substances, flammable substances and other similar work;
e) Construction of any kind and demolition, reparation conservation and similar work;
f) Work in mines or quarries;
g) Work at sea, stowing, and loading and unloading on docks; and
h) Any other specified on the laws, regulations on safety and hygiene, collective contracts or settlements, individual contracts and internal work regulations.

Section 107. Work in bars or saloons, billiard halls and similar businesses is considered dangerous work for persons under the age of eighteen.

Section 108. Unsanitary work is that which because of the condition sunder which it is carried out or because of their real nature may harm the health of the workers; and those in which the damage may be caused by the kind of materials used, produced or emanated, or by the solid, liquid or gaseous residues they leave, such as:
a) Those which present a danger of poisoning because of the handling of toxic substances or of the matter which generate them;
b) Any industrial operation that generates deleterious gases or vapors or harmful emanations;
c) Any operation that produces dangerous or harmful dust; and
d) Any others specified in the laws, safety and hygiene regulations, collective contracts or settlements, individual contracts and internal work policies.

Section 109. For judicial and administrative purposes, when in doubt as to whether a task is dangerous of unsanitary, the qualification of the activities will be made by the General Direction of Social Welfare.

[El Salvador, Labour Code, 1972 (Amended by Decree 859 (1994))]

Second clause: Work of minors

Section 117. Work is forbidden for:
1. Persons under the age of fourteen.
2. Persons under the age of fifteen who have not completed their elementary education.

Section 118. It is forbidden to persons under the age of eighteen to engage in any work which because of its nature, or of the conditions surrounding it are dangerous to the life, health or morality of the persons that perform them, especially the following:
1. Work in clubs, bars and other places where alcoholic beverages are sold.
2. Transportation of passengers and cargo by road, railway, air, interior waterways and work on docks, wharves and storage containers.
3. Work related to the generation, transformation and transmission of electricity.
4. The handling of explosive of flammable substances.
5. Underground work in mines, quarries, tunnels or sewers.
6. The handling of substances, mechanisms or equipment that entail exposure to the effects of radioactivity.

The conditions on numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the above are not to be considered when the work is being carried out in vocational schools, and under the approval and supervision of the proper authorities.

Section 119. In agricultural development, persons between twelve and fifteen years of age are to be allowed to carry out light tasks only and in a schedule removed from their school hours.

Section 120. In addition, work is forbidden to persons under eighteen years of age:
1. During the night shift, that is between six in the evening and eight in the morning.
2. Extraordinary shifts or during Sundays or national holidays or mourning.

Section 121. Work contracts involving the work of persons under the age of eighteen must be signed with the participation of their parent or legal representative. If they are inexistent contracts will be signed directly by the minors with the approval of the administrative labor authority.

Section 122. For the settling of the workday, the schooling needs of the minor will be taken into consideration and the workday may not exceed:
1. Six hours per day and thirty-six per week for those under the age of sixteen.
2. Seven hours per day and forty-two per week for those under the age of eighteen.

Section 123. Persons over twelve years of age are allowed to work as a domestic employee, on light tasks, with the authorization of the Labor and Social Welfare Secretary, and as long as it is in compliance with section 119 concerning their education.
It is mandatory for the employer having a minor as an employee to allow him to attend an educational institution at least until he completes his elementary education.

Section 124. Any employer using the services of workers under the age of eighteen will keep a special record which includes:
1. First and last names of the minor’s parents, tutors or guardians, if it is the case.
2. Date of birth.
3. Address.
4. Kind of work performed.
5. Details of the number of hours worked.
6. Work schedule.
7. Salary received.
8. Degree of instruction received.

[Panama, Labour Code, 1971]

Section 96. Minimum age: It is established, for all the territory of the Republic, the age of fourteen (14) years as the minimum age for working. The National Executive Power may set, by means of a decree, minimum ages above the limit set herein for dangerous or harmful tasks.

First paragraph. Persons who have reached the minimum age and are under eighteen years of age may not be engaged in any task expressly forbidden by the law.

Second paragraph. In the case of a violation of the minimal age for working, children and teenagers will enjoy all the benefits and compensations that their work entitles them to receive.

Third paragraph. The Board of Protection may authorize, under particular circumstances, properly justified, work by teenagers under the minimal age, as long as the activity to be carried out in no way impairs their right to an education, is dangerous or harmful to their health or development or is expressly forbidden by law.

Fourth paragraph. In all cases, before allowing it, the teenager must submit to a full medical exam which affirms his health and physical and mental capability for the tasks he will be carrying out, Also, the minor’s opinion must be heard, as well as that of his parents, representatives or guardians.

[Venezuela, Organic Law for the Protection of the Child and Adolescent, 1998]

1. Amended by Decree 859 (1994)