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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Aruba

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments initially made in 2015.

Repetition

Article 2(3) and (4) of the Convention. Age of completion of compulsory schooling and minimum age for admission to employment. Referring to its previous comments, in which it noted that the Labour Ordinance of Aruba establishes a minimum age for admission to work of 14 years (pursuant to sections 4(d) and 15), the Committee drew the Government’s attention to Article 2(3) of the Convention, which states that the minimum age specified shall not be lower than the age of completion of compulsory education.

The Committee notes that the State Ordinance on Compulsory Education of 2012 requires that a parent shall ensure that his/her child shall be enrolled at school on reaching the age of 4 years and attend school until completion of basic education, general secondary or vocational education or until he/she acquires the age of 17 years (sections 1 and 2). The Committee also notes that according to section 2(3) of the Ordinance on Compulsory Education, the Minister may, at the request of a parent, allow a child who is at least 14 years of age to follow a different curriculum enabling that child to acquire some training in addition to general education. The Committee further notes from the Explanatory Memorandum to the Ordinance on Compulsory Education that the basic education scheme comprises of a two-year pre-school, six years of elementary education and three years of post-secondary education. The Committee accordingly observes that a total of 11 years of education which shall commence at the age of 4 years shall be completed at the age of 14 years, which is also the minimum age for admission to employment specified by Aruba.

Article 6. Vocational training and apprenticeship. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to the provisions of the Ordinance on Compulsory Education which permits children of at least 14 years of age, following an approval from the Minister of Education, to undertake vocational training or an apprenticeship programme (sections 2 and 3).

Article 7. Light work. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the State Decree provided for under section 16(b) of the Labour Ordinance to specify certain tasks which can be carried out by children of 12 years of age and above, who have completed the sixth class of primary school, was not addressed in the Committee for the Modernization of Labour Legislation (CMLL). It had noted the Government’s statement that a labour policy will be adopted by the Labour Department following an approval from the Department of Legislation.

The Committee notes with interest that the Labour Department adopted a policy on child labour which lays down the conditions under which exceptions to child labour are permitted. According to this policy on child labour, children of 13 and 14 years are permitted to work, after school hours, in work which is not physically or mentally harmful to him/her and work which does not take place before 7.00 a.m. and after 7.00 p.m. The policy on child labour further provides that a child shall not work for more than 12 hours per week, of which a maximum of two hours per day on school days and no more than seven hours per day on other days.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s information that from 2012 to 2015, the Labour Department received two petitions for waiver of the prohibition on child labour. One of them concerned a girl of 13 years to help with filing and shredding documents, and the other concerned about 50 students from a local high school for summer jobs to help with the delivery of books. The Government’s report indicates that both the petitions were approved by the Labour Department under the conditions that the work to be performed did not take place during school hours and not before 7.00 a.m. or after 7.00 p.m., and that such work was performed under adult supervision and that the children received appropriate breaks during work. The Committee also notes the Government’s information that during the inspections carried out in 2014 by the Bureau of Compulsory Education, in cooperation with the police, one child of 16 years of age was found working in a supermarket.