Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - North Macedonia (Ratification: 1991)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee previously noted that the provisions relating to the minimum age for admission to employment or work in the Labour Relations Law did not apply to work performed outside a formal labour relationship, such as self-employment or work in the informal economy. Moreover, the Committee noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), expressed concern regarding the incidence of child labour in the informal economy, including in street vending at intersections, on street corners and in restaurants. The Committee also noted the Government’s information that, according to the data collected through the labour inspectorate, no children under 15 years of age were found to be engaged in work. However, the Committee observed that, as stated by the CRC, most child labour in the Republic of Macedonia seemed to occur in the informal economy.

The Committee once again notes the Government’s information in its report that, there were no workers younger than 15 years detected in formal employment by the labour inspectors, however, the labour inspection services do not cover younger people who perform certain types of work within the family household in individual agricultural production. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the expansion of the relevant monitoring mechanisms to the informal economy can be an important manner in which to ensure that the Convention is applied in practice, particularly in countries where expanding the scope of the implementing legislation to address children working in this sector does not seem a practicable solution (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 345). The Committee accordingly once again requests the Government to take measures to ensure that all children carrying out economic activities without an employment contract, particularly children working in the informal economy, benefit from the protection afforded by the Convention. In this regard, the Committee once again urges the Government to take measures to expand the reach and strengthen the capacity of the labour inspection services to better monitor the work performed by young persons in the informal economy. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the progress achieved.

Article 7. Light work. The Committee previously noted that, pursuant to section 18(2) of the Labour Relations Law, a person under the age of 15 who has not completed compulsory schooling may work for a maximum of four hours a day in activities determined by law. In this regard, the Committee reminded the Government that Article 7(1) of the Convention allows children between the ages of 13 and 15 to engage in light work and that, pursuant to Article 7(3) of the Convention, the competent authority shall determine the activities in which light work may be permitted. The Committee noted the Government’s statement that it would take the Committee’s comments on this point into consideration when next amending the Labour Law.

The Committee notes that Government’s statement that, the subsequent amendments of the Labour Relations Law will determine the minimum age for light work as 13 years, as well as the types of light work that may be performed by children between 13 and 15 years of age. The Committee requests that the Government take the necessary measures to ensure that the amendments of the Labour Relations Law are adopted in the near future, and provide a copy once they are adopted.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that, approximately, 584 children of 15 years of age, 687 of 16 years, and 797 of 17 years were employed in 2013, 779 children of 16 years of age and 578 children of 17 years of age were employed in 2014, while 939 children of 16 years of age and 1,059 children of 17 years of age were employed in 2015. However, the Committee notes the absence of information relating to children working below the minimum age for admission to employment of 15 years. The Committee requests that the Government continue to provide information on the manner in which the Convention is applied, including recent statistical data relating to the nature, scope and trends of the employment of young persons between the ages of 15 and 18 years and, where possible, information on the number of children working below the minimum age.