Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Kazakhstan (Ratification: 2001)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy on the effective elimination of child labour. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information in its report under Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), that the National Information Campaign (NIC) entitled “12 Days of Fight Against Child Labour” for the year 2013 was conducted in June 2013 under the slogan “No to child labour in the household”. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the measures undertaken within the scope of the NIC in 2013 covered more than 1.2 million children and over 200,000 adults. Moreover, the Committee notes that the various measures undertaken by the “Road to School Initiative” in 2012 which was supported by state authorities and big national companies and which covered 284,900 children from impoverished families who received assistance totalling more than 1.7 billion Kazakhstani tenge (KZT) (approximately US$1,113,900).

The Committee further notes from the Government’s report that a National Plan of Action (NAP) for 2012–14 has been adopted and is being carried out. This NAP provides measures for conducting joint investigations of the activities of legal persons and individual entrepreneurs in the harvesting, receiving and processing of cotton and tobacco, in order to prevent the illegal labour migration and exploitation of child labour as well as measures for checking on the attendance of children at general education schools during the harvest period of cotton and tobacco. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the NAP and on the results achieved in terms of eliminating child labour in the cotton and tobacco sector.

Article 2(1). Scope of application. Children working in the informal economy. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted that, by virtue of sections 9(2) and 1(59) of the Labour Code of 2007 (and its provisions regulating the minimum age for admission to work) applies only to persons working within the context of an employment relationship. It had also noted the Government’s indication that investigations of cases of child labour revealed the prevalence of child labour in several sectors, including activities in the informal economy such as work in city markets and in car washes. In this regard, the Committee had encouraged the Government to take measures to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the labour inspectorate to better monitor children working in the informal economy.

The Committee notes from the Government’s report under Convention No. 182 that according to the inspections carried out by the Procurator’s Office in 2012 in Maktaaral District in South Kazakhstan, 39 cases of child labour were detected in cotton plantations, eight cases of child labour in the tobacco plantations in the Karatal district, while two cases of child labour were detected in car wash services in Uralsk district. In all these cases, a total of 16 people were held administratively liable for violations of the provisions of the Labour Code. The Committee encourages the Government to continue taking measures to monitor child labour in the informal economy. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of violations detected with regard to child labour in the informal economy.

Article 6. Vocational training and apprenticeship. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted the Government’s indication that the terms and conditions for the vocational training that students undergo in enterprises are determined by agreement between schools and enterprises, in conformity with national legislation and, in particular, the Law on the Sanitary and Epidemiological Well-Being of the Population of 4 December 2002. It had also noted the Government’s statement that the length and content of work experience is determined by work training plans and programmes, in accordance with the requirement of approved state educational standards. The Committee had further noted that pursuant to Decree of the President No. 626 of 2008 on the state programme for the development of technical and vocational training, the minimum age for admission to the vocational education system is 15 years.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that according to the Standard Rules for educational organizations offering secondary education programmes under Government Resolution No. 224 of 2005, general secondary education is compulsory and is the final stage for preparation for developing skills, knowledge and abilities for vocational choices. The Government report further indicates that initial vocational education takes place in vocational schools and institutes and is combined with general secondary education and aims to prepare skilled workers in various occupations. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s information that according to section 181 of the Labour Code of 2007, the working hours for students at educational institutions who combine study and work during the school year and who are aged 14–16 years shall be two-and-a-half hours a day.

Article 7(3). Determination of light work. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that according to section 179 of the Labour Code of 2007, with the written consent of one of the parents, guardian or custodian, a contract of employment may be entered with students who have reached the age of 14 years, for work in their free time from study that does not impair their health or interrupt their educational process. The Committee further notes from the Government’s report that pursuant to section 181 of the Labour Code, children aged 14 years and above shall not work for more than 24 hours a week.

Article 9(3). Registers of employment. The Committee previously noted the Government’s statement that, in concluding an employment contract, the employer has the right to require the presentation of an identity card and, for persons under the age of 16, a birth certificate. The Government indicated that the employee’s age (and other information) is kept in an employee’s personnel workbook, issued by the employer’s personnel department. However, the Committee observed that the Government’s report did not indicate if every employer is required to keep such a workbook, or if the employer is obligated to record the age of all employees. The Committee had requested the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that the required registers are maintained, in conformity with Article 9 of the Convention.

The Committee notes with interest the Government’s information that the Law of 17 February 2012, on amending and supplementing the Labour Code, has introduced an obligation on employers to keep registers or other documents, indicating the names and dates of birth of workers under 18 years of age employed by him/her. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the Law of 17 February 2012, on amending and supplementing the Labour Code, along with its next report.