International
Labour Organization
Note: Date of coming into force: :06:06:1935.
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 Sixteenth Session on 12 April 1932, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to the age for admission of children to employment in non-industrial occupations, which is the third item on the agenda of the Session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,
adopts the thirtieth day of April of the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two, the following Convention, which may be cited as the Minimum Age (Non-Industrial Employment) Convention, 1932, for ratification by the Members of the International Labour Organisation in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation:
Article 1
(1) This Convention shall apply to any employment not dealt with in the following Conventions adopted by the International Labour Conference at its First, Second and Third Sessions respectively:
Convention fixing the minimum age for admission of children to industrial employment (Washington, 1919);
Convention fixing the minimum age for admission of children to employment at sea (Genoa, 1920);
Convention concerning the age for admission of children to employment in agriculture (Geneva, 1921);
The competent authority in each country shall, after consultation with the principal organisations of employers and workers concerned, define the line of division which separates the employments covered by this Convention from those dealt with in the three aforesaid Conventions.
(2) This Convention shall not apply to
(a) employment in sea-fishing;
(b) work done in technical and professional schools, provided that such work is essentially of an educative character, is not intended for commercial profit, and is restricted, approved and supervised by public authority.
(3) It shall be open to the competent authority in each country to exempt from the application of this Convention--
(a) employment in establishments in which only members of the employer's family are employed, except employment which is harmful, prejudicial or dangerous within the meaning of Articles 3 and 5 of this Convention;
(b) domestic work in the family performed by members of that family.
Article 2
Children under fourteen years of age, or children over fourteen years who are still required by national laws or regulations to attend primary school, shall not be employed in any employment to which this Convention applies except as hereinafter otherwise provided.
Article 3
(1) Children over twelve years of age may, outside the hours fixed for school attendance, be employed on light work
(a) which is not harmful to their health or normal development;
(b) which is not such as to prejudice their attendance at school or their capacity to benefit from the instruction there given; and
(c) the duration of which does not exceed two hours per day on either school days or holidays, the total number of hours spent at school and on light work in no case to exceed seven per day.
(2) Light work shall be prohibited
(a) on Sundays and legal public holidays;
(b) during the night, that is to say during a period of at least twelve consecutive hours comprising the interval between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
(3) After the principal organisations of employers and workers concerned have been consulted, national laws or regulations shall
(a) specify what forms of employment may be considered to be light work for the purpose of this Article;
(b) prescribe the preliminary conditions to be complied with as safeguards before children may be employed in light work.
(4) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (a) of paragraph (1) above,
(a) national laws or regulations may determine work to be allowed and the number of hours per day to be worked during the holiday time of children referred to in Article 2 who are over fourteen years of age;
(b) in countries where no provision exists relating to compulsory school attendance, the time spent on light work shall not exceed four and a half hours per day.
Article 4
1. In the interests of art, science or education, national laws or regulations may, by permits granted in individual cases, allow exceptions to the provisions of Articles 2 and 3 of this Convention in order to enable children to appear in any public entertainment or as actors or supernumeraries in the making of cinematographic films;
2. Provided that
(a) no such exception shall be allowed in respect of employment which is dangerous within the meaning of Article 5, such as employment in circuses, variety shows or cabarets;
(b) strict safeguards shall be prescribed for the health, physical development and morals of the children, for ensuring kind treatment of them, adequate rest, and the continuation of their education;
(c) children to whom permits are granted in accordance with this Article shall not be employed after midnight.
Article 5
A higher age or ages than those referred to in Article 2 of this Convention shall be fixed by national laws or regulations for admission of young persons and adolescents to any employment which, by its nature, or the circumstances in which it is to be carried on, is dangerous to the life, health or morals of the persons employed in it.
Article 6
A higher age or ages than those referred to in Article 2 of this Convention shall be fixed by national laws or regulations for admission of young persons and adolescents to employment for purposes of itinerant trading in the streets or in places to which the public have access, to regular employment at stalls outside shops or to employment in itinerant occupations, in cases where the conditions of such employment require that a higher age should be fixed.
Article 7
In order to ensure the due enforcement of the provisions of this Convention, national laws or regulations shall
(a) provide for an adequate system of public inspection and supervision;
(b) provide suitable means for facilitating the identification and supervision of persons under a specified age engaged in the employments and occupations covered by Article 6;
(c) provide penalties for breaches of the laws or regulations by which effect is given to the provisions of this Convention.
Article 8
There shall be included in the annual reports to be submitted under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation full information concerning all laws and regulations by which effect is given to the provisions of this Convention, including--
(a) a list of the forms of employment which national laws or regulations specify to be light work for the purpose of Article 3;
(b) a list of the forms of employment for which, in accordance with Articles 5 and 6, national laws or regulations have fixed ages for admission higher than those laid down in Article 2;
(c) full information concerning the circumstances in which exceptions to the provisions of Articles 2 and 3 are permitted in accordance with the provisions of Article 4.
Article 9
1. The provisions of Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of this Convention shall not apply to India, but in India
(1) The employment of children under ten shall be prohibited:
Provided that in the interests of art, science or education, national laws or regulations may, by permits granted in individual cases, allow exceptions to the above provision in order to enable children to appear in any public entertainment or as actors or supernumeraries in the making of cinematographic films.
Provided also that should the age for the admission of children to factories not using power which are not subject to the Indian Factories Act be fixed by national laws or regulations at an age exceeding ten, the age so prescribed for admission to such factories shall be substituted for the age of ten for the purpose of this paragraph.
(2) Persons under fourteen years of age shall not be employed in any non-industrial employment which the competent authority, after consultation with the principal organisations of employers and workers concerned, may declare to involve danger to life health or morals.
(3) An age above ten shall be fixed by national laws or regulations for admission of young persons and adolescents to employment for purposes of itinerant trading in the streets or in places to which the public have access, to regular employment at stalls outside shops or to employment in itinerant occupations, in cases where the conditions of such employment require that a higher age should be fixed.
(4) National laws or regulations shall provide for the due enforcement of the provisions of this Article and in particular shall provide penalties for breaches of the laws or regulations by which effect is given to the provisions of this Article.
(5) The competent authority shall, after a period of five years from the date of passing of legislation giving effect to the provisions of this Convention, review the whole position with a view to increasing the minimum age prescribed in this Convention, such review to cover the whole of the provisions of this Article.
2. Should legislation be enacted in India making attendance at school compulsory until the age of Fourteen this Article shall cease to apply, and Articles 2,3,4,5,6, and 7 shall thenceforth be applicable to India.
Article 10
The formal ratifications of this Convention under the conditions set forth in the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for Registration.
Article 11
1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members whose ratifications have been registered with the International Labour Office.
2. It shall come into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two members of the International Labour Organisation have been registered with the Director-General.
3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the date on which its ratification has been registered.
Article 12
As soon as the ratifications of two Members of the International Labour Organisation have been registered with the International Labour Office, the Director-General of the International Labour Office shall so notify all the Members of the International Labour Organisation. He shall likewise notify them of the registration of ratifications which may be communicated subsequently by other Members of the Organisation.
Article 13
1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an Act communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered with the International Labour Office.
2. Each member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of five years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of five years under the terms provided for in this Article.
Article 14
At such times as it may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall consider the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.
Article 15
1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part, the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve denunciation of this Convention without any requirement of delay, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 13 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force.
2. As from the date of the coming into force of the new revising Convention, the present Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the Members.
3. Nevertheless, this Convention shall remain in force in its actual form and content for those Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising convention.
Article 16
The French and English texts of this Convention shall both be authentic.