Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Malaysia (Ratification: 1997)

Other comments on C138

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 3(1) and (2) of the Convention. Minimum age for admission to, and determination of, hazardous work. In its previous comments, the Committee noted with satisfaction that, pursuant to section 2(1) of the Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act of 1966 (CYP Act), after amendment by the Children and Young Persons (Employment) (Amendment) Act of 2010 (CYP Amendment Act), no child or young person (i.e. all persons under 18 years) shall be required or permitted to engage in any hazardous employment. The Committee also noted that the CYP Act has been amended to include section 2(6) which states that, for the purpose of section 2, “hazardous work” means any work that has been classified as hazardous based on the risk assessment conducted by a competent authority on safety and health as determined by the Minister. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken, pursuant to section 2(6) of the CYP Act (as amended), to determine the types of work which constitute hazardous work prohibited to persons under the age of 18.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, taking due note of its request, the Labour Department will further discuss the issue and hold consultations with the relevant authorities, such as the Department of Safety and Health, in order to determine the types of work which constitute hazardous work prohibited to persons under the age of 18. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the hazardous types of work prohibited to children under 18 years of age are determined in the near future, in consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard in its next report.

Article 7(1). Minimum age for admission to light work. The Committee previously noted that section 2(2)(a) of the CYP Act allows children to be employed in light work which is adequate to their capacity, in any undertaking carried on by their family, but observed that no minimum age for admission to light work had been specified. The Committee recalled that Article 7(1) of the Convention provides for the possibility of admitting young persons to light work activities only from the age of 13 years.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has taken note of the Committee’s recommendation to establish a minimum age of 13 years for admission to light work, which would be taken into consideration during the current review of the CYP Act. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard in its next report.

Parts III and V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of 25 June 2007, expressed concern that the enforcement of Convention No. 138 remained weak (CRC/C/MYS/CO/1, paragraph 90). It also noted that the CRC expressed its regret at the lack of a national data collection system and at the insufficient data on working children. However, the Committee noted the indication of the Government representative at the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards that the Malaysia peninsula alone has 300 labour inspectors, with every labour inspector carrying out between 25 and 30 inspections per month. The Government representative also indicated that, out of 30,084 complaints received on various labour issues, none of these cases related to child labour. Nonetheless, the Committee noted that the Worker members at the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards indicated that issues remained, particularly with regard to children working on palm oil plantations, in the agricultural sector, and also with regard to children working in towns and cities.

Moreover, the Committee noted the statement in the report of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), for the World Trade Organization General Council on the Trade Policies of Malaysia of 18 and 20 January 2010, entitled “Internationally recognized core labour standards in Malaysia”, that child labour in Malaysia can be found primarily in rural areas in agriculture, where children often work along with their parents without receiving a salary. In urban areas, children work in restaurants, shops and small manufacturing units usually owned by family members. The ITUC further indicated in this report that the Government does not collect statistical data on child labour. The Committee noted the Government’s statement that the Labour Department (under the Ministry of Human Resources) is taking the necessary measures to ensure that data on working children are collected. The Government indicated that it would like to consider engaging the technical assistance of the ILO to facilitate this data collection. Moreover, the Committee noted the Government’s indication in its report submitted under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), that labour departments have been engaged in consultations with the police and the Immigration Department in respect of the employment of child workers, including on awareness raising among employers on child labour and the related legislation.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that data on child employment were previously collected through data entry in the Annual Employment Return/National Employment Return (NER) survey, but that since 2005 the NER survey does not include statistics disaggregated by age. The Government indicates that further discussion regarding data collection on the work of children and young persons will be taken into serious consideration, in line with support from the Institute of Labour Market Information Analysis and from the Information Management Division of the Ministry of Labour. The Government also indicates that it will work on data sharing with other agencies.

Furthermore, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it is in the midst of recruiting more labour officers in order to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the labour inspectorate to better monitor children carrying out economic activities in the agricultural sector. In terms of capacity building, the Government indicates that it has an ongoing programme on training officers, in the framework of which more emphasis will be given to labour inspection in the agricultural sector. Taking due note of the efforts deployed by the Government, the Committee encourages it to pursue its efforts to ensure that up-to-date statistical data on the economic activities of children and young persons are collected and made available, including the number of children working under the minimum age of 15, and to provide this information in its next report. To the extent possible, this information should be disaggregated by sex and age. In addition, the Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the labour inspectorate to better monitor children carrying out economic activities in the agricultural sector, and to provide information on the results achieved. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the increased number of labour inspectors and on the training they received regarding children carrying out economic activities in the agricultural sector.