Five approaches in international labour standards to child labour

There have been five areas in which international labour standard setting has developed in terms of children and young persons:

1. the setting of a minimum age for admission to employment or work;
2. the immediate suppression of the worst forms of child labour as the priority of national and international action;
3. the prohibition of young persons from working at night;
4. the requirement that working young persons under the age of 18 be found fit to work by undergoing medical examination; and
5. recommendations for the conditions of employment of persons under the age of 18 underground.

Analysis of the international legal framework for combatting child labour

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Here are highlights of the most important international labour standards. Consult ILOLEX for full texts and other related instruments.

Minimum Age

The Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), obliges the ratifying State to prohibit child labour and provide a minimum age for work that corresponds to the end of compulsory schooling. This Convention is a Fundamental ILO Convention.

Summary of the Convention

Worst forms of child labour

The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) calls for "immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency." This Convention is a Fundamental ILO Convention.

Summary of the Convention

Night Work

The Night Work of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations) Convention, 1946 (No. 79), and The Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 90), prohibit night work by children and young persons. Along with the earlier Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 6), these Conventions are to be revised.

Medical Examinations

The Medical Examination of Young Persons (Industry) Convention, 1946 (No. 77), the Medical Examination of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations) Convention, 1946 (No. 78), and the Medical Examination of Young Persons (Underground Work) Convention, 1965 (No. 124), require compulsory and thorough medical examinations before admission to employment (and thereafter periodic examinations) for children and young persons. Conventions Nos. 77 and 78 are supplemented by Recommendation No. 79.

Underground Work

The Minimum Age (Underground Work) Convention, (1965) (No. 123) provides for conditions of employment of persons under 18 years of age underground in mines and quarries.