Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Ukraine (Ratification: 1979)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s reports. It requests the Government to supply further information on the following points.

Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee had previously noted that, according to the communication of 23 August 2002 from the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FTUU), child labour was an increasingly frequent problem and that there were child workers under the age of 15 in Ukraine. It had also noted the FTUU’s more recent allegation that, in practice, the average age of children affected by child labour in Ukraine amounted to 12 years and that child labour was widely used in illegally operated mines. Cheap child labour was also used in construction and agriculture. The Committee had noted the Government’s indication during the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2004, that a technical cooperation programme with ILO/IPEC had been launched focusing, inter alia, on building the institutional and technical capacity of the Government and the social partners to apply Convention No. 138, as well as the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). It had further noted that section 3(1) of the Labour Code excludes self-employment from its scope of application. Taking into account the information from the FTUU on the number and age of children performing work in illegal mines and in the informal sector, the Committee had urged the Government to provide information on the manner in which the protection established by the Convention was ensured for children working in the informal sector, as well as on the implementation of the technical cooperation programme with ILO/IPEC and on its impact on eliminating child labour in the informal sector.

With regard to the impact of the ILO/IPEC programme on eliminating child labour, the Committee notes with interest that, according to the ILO/IPEC final technical progress report of the National Programme for the Prevention and Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Ukraine of 8 December 2006 (page 58), 354 children have been prevented and 1,167 withdrawn from child labour, including its worst forms, through the provision of educational services and training opportunities. Moreover, 1,155 children have been prevented from child labour, including its worst forms, through the provision of other non-education related-services.

Moreover, the Committee notes the Government’s information that the provisions of section 188 of the Labour Code, regulating the minimum age for admission to employment, as well as the provisions prohibiting the employment of children in hazardous work, apply to workers of all enterprises, institutions and organizations, irrespective of the forms of ownership, type of activity, and sectoral affiliation. The Committee observes that since 2005 the Goznadzortrud (authority within the Ministry of Social Labour and Social Policy which monitors the compliance of labour legislation) has participated in the implementation of the ILO/IPEC project “Institutional Development of Labour Inspection for participation in the System of Child Labour Monitoring (CLMS) in two pilot regions – Donetsk and Kherson regions”. Under this project, workplaces in both the formal and informal economy have been monitored. Moreover, in 2006, six districts were identified in Donetsk and Kherson regions where the identification of working children is under way, both in the formal and informal sectors. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s information that the CLMS developed in the Donetsk and Kherson regions will be replicated at the country level under the “National Plan of Action to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child for 2006–16”, adopted in June 2007. The introduction of the system of permanent monitoring of child labour will make it possible to detect cases of the illegal use of child labour as well as to remove children from the worst forms of child labour. The Committee, however, notes the Government’s statement that at present, the supervision of the use of child labour in the informal sector of the economy remains an outstanding issue. This concerns, above all, the right of access to workplaces in the informal sector. The lack of criteria of evaluation of the presence of employment relations when using child labour in private garden plots or in the street does not provide the inspectors with the grounds to apply administrative sanctions. The basic problem, therefore, consists in the development of a mechanism to collect evidence testifying to the fact that a child works for an employer in the absence of any written arrangements. The labour inspectors involved in the implementation of the ILO/IPEC programme in Donetsk and Kherson regions are carrying out their activities to develop such a mechanism with the participation of the representatives of other supervisory bodies. The Committee hopes that, in adopting the CLMS at the national level, the labour inspection component concerning children working in the informal sector will be strengthened. It requests the Government to redouble its efforts to adapt and strengthen the labour inspection services in the informal sector, in order to ensure that the protection established by the Convention is ensured for children working in this sector. It also requests the Government to provide information on any impact of the recent adoption of the CLMS at the national level on improving the capacity of labour inspectors to detect cases of child labour in the informal sector with a view to removing these children from child labour and its worst forms.

Part V of the report form. Practical application of the Convention. The Committee previously expressed its concern at the large number of children under the age of 16 who increasingly worked in practice, especially in the informal sector and in illegal mines. It notes the Government’s information that, between August and December 2005, the labour inspectorate identified 290 persons under 15 years of age working. Violations of the legislation on child labour, mainly involving minors in night and overtime work were discovered in 640 enterprises.

Moreover, 37 minors were identified who worked in hard and harmful conditions. As a result of the inspections, 459 cases were taken to court. The Committee further notes the Government’s information that, during inspections carried out in the period 2005–06 by the Goznadzortrud violations of the legislation were identified with respect to 339 minors, mainly concerning overtime or night work. On the basis of the results of inspections, 995 orders were issued in order to eliminate the violations. In addition, 68 employers have been subjected to administrative penalties. The documents relating to 143 inspections were transmitted to the Prosecutor’s Office in order to take to court employers violating labour legislation related to minors. During the course of a survey carried out by labour inspectors in the Donetsk region, children working in the so-called illegal mines were not identified because of the lack of information about the location of these mines. However, within the framework of the ILO/IPEC programme, since 2006, a set of measures have been envisaged aimed at identifying children working in the illegal mines and engaged in the grading and loading of coal on the open surfaces. It is envisaged to identify such children with the participation of the members of the Trade Union of Free Miners of Ukraine. The Committee notes the Government’s information that, in the framework of the ILO/IPEC programme, the Centre of Social Expertise of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences conducted a study on the use of child labour in six sectors of the informal economy (agriculture, street trade, work in mines, services sector, commercial sexual exploitation and illegal activities, including begging) in Ukraine, following the example of the Donetsk and Kherson regions. This study served as a basis for developing vocational training programmes for children at risk of being involved in child labour and its worst forms. However, the lack of updated statistical data at the national level on the use of child labour in the informal sector constitutes a problem. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the study conducted by the Centre of Social Expertise of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences. It also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to improve the system of collecting statistical data on children working in the informal sector and in illegal mines, and to provide information on any progress in this regard. It finally requests the Government to continue to provide extracts from the inspection services, especially regarding children working in the informal sector, as well as information on the number and nature of the contraventions reported and penalties applied.

The Committee is also addressing a direct request to the Government concerning other points.