Employers warned about child labour

State Minister in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Dr Norman Dunn, is warning employers not to engage persons under the age of 18 to work in their establishments.

Section 34 of the Childcare and Protection Act (CCPA) criminalises child labour. Under the Act, a fine not exceeding $500,000 or a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, can be levelled on persons who act contrary to the conditions stated in the CCPA. Dunn said Jamaica is committed to the elimination of all forms of child labour.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child labour as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and dignity; work that is harmful to physical and mental development; socially or morally dangerous; and interferes with a child's schooling.

Child work on the other hand is the participation in work that does not affect children's health and education nor deprives them of the chance to enjoy their rights and is generally regarded as something positive that contributes to the child's development.

Dunn pointed out that child work cannot include working/begging on the street, working in massage parlours, working as exotic dancers or involvement in tobacco, drugs, gun trade and lottery scamming.

"Child labour puts the participants at risk, and when we speak about the worst forms of child labour, it is important for the conversation to be heard right across Jamaica," he said. According to the ILO, the worst forms of child labour involve children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets.