Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Indonesia (Ratification: 1999)

Article 7 of the Convention. Light work. In its previous comments, the Committee notes that section 69(1) of the Manpower Act allows the employment of children between 13 and 15 years of age for light work which are not harmful to their physical, mental and social development. It also noted section 69(2) of the Manpower Act which provides that entrepreneurs who employ children in light work may not require them to work longer than three hours a day, may only engage children during the day without disturbing their schooling and must meet their occupational safety and health requirements. However, the Committee also noted the information in the Indonesia Child Labour Survey (2009) that approximately 52 per cent of working children aged 13–14 years were engaged in work that did not constitute light work, amounting to approximately 321,200 children of light-work age performing non-light work activities.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report refers to the measures taken by the Government to reduce child labour in general, such as the Reducing Child Labour as part of the Aspiring Family Programme and the Roadmap Towards Indonesia Free from Child Labour 2022, but does not provide any information with regard to the measures for the effective implementation of section 69(2) of the Manpower Act. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on measures taken to enforce section 69(2) of the Manpower Act, including information on any violations detected and penalties imposed related to the employment of children aged 13 and 14 years in non-light work activities.