Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1987)

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The Committee notes the joint observations of the National Union of Workers of Venezuela (UNETE), the Confederation of Workers of Venezuela (CTV), the Independent Trade Union Alliance Confederation of Workers (CTASI), the United Federation of Workers of Venezuela (CUTV), the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations of Venezuela (FAPUV), the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) and the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions (CODESA), received on 30 August 2023. It requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy, labour inspection and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes, from the Government’s report, that: (1) there is an increase in the number of working adolescents registered between 2020 and 2023; (2) from a total of 29,931 labour inspections undertaken between January 2020 and July 2023, the labour inspectorate detected 58 work entities in which children under the age 14 years were found to be working and these entities were ordered to stop such practices; (3) no case was detected involving a young person under the age of 18 years in hazardous work; (4) the National Plan for Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents 2021–26, developed by the National Committee for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (IDENNA), envisages the development of measures to protect children from labour exploitation; and (5) the “Plan for the prevention and reduction of early pregnancy in teenagers” is a coordinated interinstitutional effort to address what the Government considers to be an important factor which can lead to child labour.

The Committee notes, from the observations of the UNETE, CTV, CTASI, CUTV, FAPUV, CGT and CODESA that: (1) child labour is increasing, including in hazardous conditions and especially in the informal economy; (2) an estimated 12 per cent of children are engaged in child labour in hazardous conditions; (3) 22 per cent of children aged 6 to 17 years do not attend school in order to work and contribute to the livelihood of the family; (4) there is a lack of official statistics on child labour; and (5) there is no publicly available information on the National Plan for Comprehensive Protection of children and adolescents 2021–26. The Committee notes, with regret that: (1) the Government does not provide information on the measures taken to progressively eliminate child labour, whether under the above-mentioned plans or in the framework of the previously mentioned national system of guidance for the comprehensive protection of children and young persons; (2) once again, the Government does not provide any statistical information on child labour; and (3) the Government does not provide information on labour inspection activities in the informal economy. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to: (i) strengthen the capacity and extend the reach of the labour inspection services to better monitor the work performed by young persons in the informal economy; and (ii) ensure that sufficient up-to-date data on the nature, extent and trends of child labour, including in hazardous work and the informal economy, is made available. It requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the measures taken to this end; (ii) any measures taken or envisaged, to ensure the progressive elimination of child labour, including in the context of the National Plan for Comprehensive Protection of children and adolescents 2021–26 or any other policy, and the impact of such measures; and (iii) the number and nature of infringements detected by labour inspectors, including in the informal economy, and the penalties imposed.

Article 3(3). Admission to hazardous work from the age of 16 years. The Committee notes that the Government once again states that its considers that its legislation prohibits all forms of hazardous work to children under 18 years and that the Children’s and Young Persons’ Protection Councils do not authorize young persons to be engaged in hazardous work in practice. The Government indicates that, although section 96(1) of the Act of 1998 concerning the protection of children and young persons, provides that the national executive authority may determine minimum ages higher than 14 years for types of work that are hazardous or harmful to the health of young persons, section 96(2) goes on to say that, in any event, persons between 14 years and under 18 years, “shall not engage in any type of work that is explicitly prohibited by law”. Therefore, according to the Government, persons under the age of 18 years are explicitly prohibited from engaging in hazardous types of work.

The Committee notes that the UNETE, CTV, CTASI, CUTV, FAPUV, CGT and CODESA observe that the Government has not taken any measures to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee notes that, even though the regulations on safety and health conditions prohibit hazardous or unhealthy activities for young persons under 18 years of age, section 96 of the Act of 1998 leaves open the possibility for the national executive authority to determine a minimum age under 18 years for types of work that are hazardous or harmful to the health of young persons. In light of this information, the Committee notes with concern that the Government has not taken any measures to bring its legislation into conformity with the Convention. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures as soon as possible to ensure that: (i) section 96 of the Act of 1998 concerning the protection of children and young persons is amended to expressly prohibit the engagement of young persons under the age of 18 years in hazardous work; and (ii) that any exceptions to the prohibition on hazardous work authorized by the Act of 1998 concerning the protection of children and young persons, only apply to young persons between 16 and 18 years of age and only under the conditions laid down in Article 3(3) of the Convention.