Protection of children and adolescents under labor Act: A Legal Review to Resolve the Child Labor Crisis
The government has signed an international charter banning children under the age of 14 from participating in work in the country. Bangladesh signed the 138th Convention on International Labor Organization (ILO) on 20 March, 2021
State Minister for Labor and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian handed over the ratification letter of the convention signed at the ILO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland to Guy Ryder, Director General of the organization.
In the context of Bangladesh, economic hardship is the first and foremost cause of child labor. Not being able to pay for education and the ugliness of the family forced a parent to employ his child. The number of child laborers in Bangladesh is 19 percent of the total children aged 5-14 years. The rate is 21.9 percent for boys and 16.1 percent for girls. Books and pencils were supposed to be in the child’s hand at that age; Instead, the child is forced to look for work to provide his own food.
Article 17 of the Constitution of Bangladesh provides clear guidelines on compulsory unpaid education for children, Article 18 on nutrition and health protection, Article 28 on enactment of special welfare and development laws, and Article 34 on forcible prohibition of child labor. There are numerous policies at the national and international levels to stop child labor.
According to the National Child Labor Survey 2013, 3.45 million children aged 5 to 17 were engaged in child labor. The Hashem Foods fire momentarily exposed the prevalence of child labor in Bangladesh and temporarily penetrated our consciences from which this unpleasant and cruel reality had been conveniently filtered out.
As a result of this slippage, many of us were forced to wonder how it is that in a state of lockdown all educational institutions are seen as being too unsafe for children to visit, but working inside factories is not? Many of us took a step further back and asked: why, if at all, is child labor still legal in Bangladesh?
That is the question I hope to explore in this piece. Under the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006 (BLA), child labor is legal for children aged above 14. In Bangladesh, although there are labor laws and laws for children, child laborers are neglected and oppressed. At the age when a person is supposed to be in school with a book, if he has to carry heavy equipment then it is very difficult.
Article 7 (2) of the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006 means a person who has attained the age of 14 years but has not attained the age of 18 (eighteen) years.
But according to section 44, in some cases there are some exceptions in the recruitment of children and adolescents. For example, a child who is 12 (twelve) years old or older can be assigned to a light job that is not dangerous for his health and well-being or will not interfere with his education. Now the child is not physically able. The condition is that if the child is going to school, his working hours should be fixed in such a way that he does not have any interruption in going to and from school. Twelve year old child laborers will also get all the opportunities like juvenile laborers Many here misuse this law by giving misinterpretations.
In Bangladesh, children also carry heavy equipment and work like adults. Big dangers can be organized at any time.
According to section 34 of Bangladesh Labor Act 2006, No child may be employed or employed in any profession or institution. No adolescent in any profession or organization may be employed or given a job; Unless a registered physician in the form prescribed by the rules keeps the certificate of competency given to him in the custody of the owner and while on duty he receives the token containing the specification of the said certificate. Only when a registered physician issues a certificate of competency to a teenager can he or she be allowed to work.
However, the prohibition will not apply to the employment of a teenager in any profession or organization as an educator or for vocational training. Moreover, if the government deems that an emergency exists and is in the public interest, the government may suspend the ban by notification in the official gazette. But when a teenager is allowed to work in an organization with a certificate of competency from a registered physician, some restrictions must be followed. Although there are systematic restrictions, sadly, they are not obeyed in a large sense. Which is a lightning signal for us.
Section 37 of the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006 states that if a person raises a question about a child or adolescent, the inspector will send the certificate issued by the registered physician to a registered physician for decision. A person’s age certificate will be considered as the final proof about him.
Pursuant to Section 39 of the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006, no teenager may be allowed to work while cleaning or supplying fuel or oil to the equipment of an organization while it is in operation, or between the rotating parts of the operating machine or between fixed and rotating parts. . Although the exact section may seem a bit complicated, there are some jobs that teenagers, despite their psychology and work ability, cannot be hired. Those are:
To clean it when the equipment is on or
Or to provide fuel or oil while the equipment is running
Or to adjust the equipment while running
Between rotating parts or between fixed and rotating parts when the equipment is turned on;
No teenager will be able to work and no owner of his organization will be able to hire any teenager for such work
Moreover, under Section 40 of 2006, no teenager will do any work on the machinery unless, Adolescents are fully aware of the dangers and precautions to be taken with this device and
The teenager has received enough training to work in machinery or he works under the supervision of an experienced and fully knowledgeable person related to machinery.
But keep in mind that no teenager can be employed in the list of high risk jobs that the government will publish from time to time through gazette notification.
Pursuant to Section 42 of the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006, no teenager may be employed in any work underground or under water.
Mitchell v. North British Rubber & Co. (1954) SCJ73 concludes that no dangerous instrument is specified in the Factories Act. However, a device that can be reasonably endangered by a person in common sense is called a hazardous device because there is a risk of injury to a worker if the person does not take general precautionary measures or due to carelessness.
Again, in Walker v. Bendcheli Flatans Ling (1973) 1 All ER case, it is said that a dangerous device means a person who is at risk of injury while working under normal circumstances.
Matthew v. Fletcher, 197, states that “what is dangerous in the conscience of the common man is a dangerous machine.”
Pursuant to Section 42 of the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006, no teenager may be employed in any work underground or under water.
Determining the working hours of adolescents
According to the provisions of section 31 of the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006, any adolescent.
1. Can work in factory or mine for maximum 5 (five) hours daily, maximum 30 (thirty) hours per week,
2. In any other organization maximum 7 (seven) hours daily, maximum 42 (forty two) hours per week,
3. You have to work in any organization between 7 in the morning and 7 in the evening,
4. If he works overtime or overtime, his total working time including his rights- (1) maximum 36 hours per week in case of factory or mining; (2) In case of any other organization maximum 48 hours per week,
5. The work of a teenager in an organization should be limited to two shifts; The duration of any shift shall not exceed 7.30 (seven and a half) hours,
6. Adolescents can only be assigned to one relay. The relay cannot be changed more than once in 30 days without prior written approval of the inspector,
7. Weekend leave cannot be suspended for teenagers,
8. No worker can work in more than one organization on the same day.
They need to be monitored in this situation. Everyone should keep a watchful eye so that beautiful dreams are not shattered due to poverty. They are our resources, everyone must take care of it.
The Ministry of Information and Religion and the City Corporation will work to create social awareness against child labor. The Ministry of Labor and Employment will look into the issue of stopping child labor in the employment and labor market. The law will be enforced and implemented by the Cabinet Division, Ministry of Labor and Employment, Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs. The Ministry of Labor and Employment, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the Ministry of Education and the Department of Local Government will work to prevent child labor.
Child labor is an old complex problem worldwide. Everyone must come forward to solve this problem. In particular, the government has to implement a sincere plan. Development agencies working with children need to play an effective role here. A social awareness needs to be created to prevent child labor at all levels including civil society. Education should be made easier for all by adopting poverty alleviation programs.
Author: Faijul Islam; Student, Chittagong University law Department.
References
ILO Convention
Children Labor protect policy, 2009
MmCCule University Press, 56th edition
Almaton Vs Roubaix, 1995
Children Labor Prohibit Dimension, 2003
The Labor code, 2006
Constitution of Bangladesh
Daily Star, 29 July, 2021
Tanvir Siddique
Prothom Alo, March 31, 2008
The Financial Express, 25th April, 2022
