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C138, Minimum Age Convention, 1973

Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
Member states of the Convention.  16  15  14
Drafted	26 June 1973
Effective	19 June 1976
Condition	2 ratifications
Ratifiers	176
Depositary	Director-General of the International Labour Office
Languages	French and English

The ILO Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment C138, is a convention adopted in 1973 by the International Labour Organization. It requires ratifying states to pursue a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment or work. It is one of eight ILO fundamental conventions. Convention C138 replaces several similar ILO conventions in specific fields of labour.

Minimum ages

Countries are free to specify a minimum age for labour, with a minimum of 15 years. A declaration of 14 years is also possible when for a specified period of time. Laws may also permit light work for children aged 13–15 (not harming their health or school work). The minimum age of 18 years is specified for work which "is likely to jeopardise the health, safety or morals of young persons". Definitions of the type of work and derogations are only possible after tripartite consultations (if such a system exists in the ratifying country).

Effect on other conventions

The convention is a revision of several conventions for workers in specific areas. Upon entry into force, some of these conventions were closed for ratification and becoming a party to this convention automatically resulted in denunciation of the older ones. An overview of older minimum age conventions of ILO is shown below:

Ratifications

Minimum ages defined by states

ILO Convention C138 entered into force one year after deposition of the first two ratifications (Cuba and Libya). As of July 2023 176 countries have ratified Convention C138. Initially, however, the pace of ratification of this convention was extremely slow. Therefore, an alternative Convention with a more limited scope was initiated in 1999. It concerns ILO Convention 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

Convention C138 enters into force for a ratifying country one year after ratification. This can be denounced every 10 years in the year after 10 years have passed (e.g. 19 June 2027 – 19 June 2028).

References

1. 1973 ILO Convention C138: Minimum Age Convention (Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment)(58th Conference Session Geneva 1973), 1015 United Nations Treaty Series, p. 297.
2. "Convention C005 - Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 5)". www.ilo.org.
3. "Ratifications of ILO conventions: Ratifications by Convention". www.ilo.org.
4. "Withdrawal of Convention 7 withdrawal of minimum age (sea) convention, 1920 (No. 7)" (PDF). ILO. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
5. "Convention C007 - Minimum Age (Sea) Convention, 1920 (No. 7)". www.ilo.org.
6. "Convention C010 - Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 10)". www.ilo.org.
7. "Ratifications of ILO conventions: Ratifications by Convention". www.ilo.org.
8. "Convention C015 - Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 1921 (No. 15)". www.ilo.org.
9. "Ratifications of ILO conventions: Ratifications by Convention". www.ilo.org.
10. "Convention C033 - Minimum Age (Non-Industrial Employment) Convention, 1932 (No. 33)". www.ilo.org.
11. "Ratifications of ILO conventions: Ratifications by Convention". www.ilo.org.
12. "Convention C058 - Minimum Age (Sea) Convention (Revised), 1936 (No. 58)". www.ilo.org.
13. "Ratifications of ILO conventions: Ratifications by Convention". www.ilo.org.
14. "Convention C059 - Minimum Age (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1937 (No. 59)". www.ilo.org.
15. "Ratifications of ILO conventions: Ratifications by Convention". www.ilo.org.
16. "Convention C060 - Minimum Age (Non-Industrial Employment) Convention (Revised), 1937 (No. 60)". www.ilo.org.
17. "Ratifications of ILO conventions: Ratifications by Convention". www.ilo.org.
18. "Convention C112 - Minimum Age (Fishermen) Convention, 1959 (No. 112)". www.ilo.org.
19. "Ratifications of ILO conventions: Ratifications by Convention". www.ilo.org.
20. "Convention C123 - Minimum Age (Underground Work) Convention, 1965 (No. 123)". www.ilo.org.
21. "Ratifications of ILO conventions: Ratifications by Convention". www.ilo.org.
22. Nissen, A. (15 June 2018). "Can WTO Member States Rely on Citizen Concerns to Prevent Corporations from Importing Goods Made from Child Labour?". Utrecht Law Review. 14 (2): 70. doi:10.18352/ulr.436. hdl:10535/10409. p. 74 referring to 1999 ILO Convention C182: Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour), 2133 United Nations Treaty Series, p. 163
23. Verdragenbank Archived 2 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands

External links

• Minimum Age Convention
• List of Ratifications
• General description of ILO Conventions
• Text of the Convention Archived 6 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine at the Center for a World in Balance

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