Child labour

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The first general laws against child labor, the Factory Acts, were passed in Britain in the
first half of the 19th century. Children younger than nine were not allowed to work and
the work day of youth under the age of 18 was limited to twelve hours.[1]

Child labor refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labor. This
practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in
many countries. Child labor was utilized to varying extents through most of history, but
entered public dispute with the advent of universal schooling, with changes in working
conditions during the industrial revolution, and with the emergence of the concepts of
workers' and children's rights.

In many developed countries, it is considered inappropriate or exploitative if a child

below a certain age works (excluding household chores, in a family shop, or school-
related work).[2] An employer is usually not permitted to hire a child below a certain
minimum age. This minimum age depends on the country and the type of work involved.
States ratifying the Minimum Age Convention adopted by the International Labor
Organization in 1973, have adopted minimum ages varying from 14 to 16. Child labor
laws in the United States set the minimum age to work in an establishment without
restrictions and without parents' consent at age 16.[3]

The incidence of child labor in the world decreased from 25 to 10 percent between 1960
and 2003, according to the World Bank.[4]

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Historical
• 2 Present day
• 3 Recent child labor incidents
o 3.1 Meatpacking
 o 3.2 Firestone
o 3.3 GAP
o 3.4 H&M
o 3.5 India
o 3.6 Primark
• 4 Defense of child labor
• 5 Efforts against child labor
• 6 See also
• 7 Notes
• 8 Further reading
o 8.1 Selected academic articles on child labor
• 9 External links

o 9.1 Child labour in diamond industry

[edit] Historical

Child laborer, New Jersey, 1910

During the Industrial Revolution, children as young as four were employed in production
factories with dangerous, and often fatal, working conditions.[5] Based on this
understanding of the use of children as laborers, it is now considered by wealthy
countries to be a human rights violation, and is outlawed, while some poorer countries
may allow or tolerate child labor. Child labor can also be defined as the full-time
employment of children who are under a minimum legal age.

The Victorian era became notorious for employing young children in factories and mines
and as chimney sweeps.[6] Child labor played an important role in the Industrial
Revolution from its outset, often brought about by economic hardship, Charles Dickens
for example worked at the age of 12 in a blacking factory, with his family in debtor's
prison. The children of the poor were expected to help towards the family budget, often
working long hours in dangerous jobs for low pay,[7] earning 10-20% of an adult male's
wage.[8] In England and Scotland in 1788, two-thirds of the workers in 143 water-
powered cotton mills were described as children.[9] In 19th-century Great Britain, one-
third of poor families were without a breadwinner, as a result of death or abandonment,
obliging many children to work from a young age.[8] Workhouses would also sell orphans
and abandoned children as "pauper apprentices", working without wages for board and
lodging.[8] Those who ran away would be whipped and returned to their masters, and
some were shackled with "irons riveted on their ankles, and reaching by long links and
rings up to the hips, and in these they were compelled to walk to and from the mill to
work and to sleep."[8]

Two girls protesting child labor (by calling it child slavery) in the 1909 New York City
Labor Day parade.

In coal mines, children began work at the age of five and generally died before the age of
25. They would crawl through tunnels too narrow and low for adults, many working long
hours from 4 am until 5 pm.[8] Conditions in the mines were dangerous, with some
children killed when they dozed off and fell into the path of the carts, while others died
from gas explosions.[8] Many children developed lung cancer and other diseases.[8]
Chimney sweeps employed "climbing boys" and girls who would scale narrow chimneys,
with some masters lighting fires under them to force them to climb faster, and some
children falling to their deaths.[8] Children employed as "scavengers" by cotton mills
would crawl under machinery to retrieve cotton bobbins, working 14 hours a day, six
days a week. Some lost hands or limbs, others were crushed under the machines, and
some were decapitated.[8] Young girls worked at match factories, where phosphorous
fumes would cause many to develop phossy jaw.[8] Children employed at glassworks
were regularly burned and blinded, and those working at potteries were vulnerable to
poisonous clay dust.[8] Children also worked in agriculture, with a gangmaster walking
behind them and whipping them if they stood up straight before they reached the end of
the field.[8]

Children also worked as errand boys, crossing sweepers, shoe blacks, or selling matches,
flowers and other cheap goods.[7] Some children undertook work as apprentices to
respectable trades, such as building or as domestic servants (there were over 120,000
domestic servants in London in the mid-18th Century). Working hours were long:
builders worked 64 hours a week in summer and 52 in winter, while domestic servants
worked 80 hour weeks.

Bertrand Russell wrote that:[10]

The industrial revolution caused unspeakable misery both in England and in America. ...
In the Lancashire cotton mills (from which Marx and Engels derived their livelihood),
children worked from 12 to 16 hours a day; they often began working at the age of six or
seven. Children had to be beaten to keep them from falling asleep while at work; in spite
of this, many failed to keep awake and were mutilated or killed. Parents had to submit to
the infliction of these atrocities upon their children, because they themselves were in a
desperate plight. Craftsmen had been thrown out of work by the machines; rural laborers
were compelled to migrate to the towns by the Enclosure Acts, which used Parliament to
make landowners richer by making peasants destitute; trade unions were illegal until
1824; the government employed agents provocateurs to try to get revolutionary
sentiments out of wage-earners, who were then deported or hanged. Such was the first
effect of machinery in England.

Children as young as three were put to work. A high number of children also worked as
prostitutes.[11] Many children (and adults) worked 16 hour days. As early as 1802 and
1819 Factory Acts were passed to regulate the working hours of workhouse children in
factories and cotton mills to 12 hours per day. These acts were largely ineffective and
after radical agitation, by for example the "Short Time Committees" in 1831, a Royal
Commission recommended in 1833 that children aged 11–18 should work a maximum of
12 hours per day, children aged 9–11 a maximum of eight hours, and children under the
age of nine were no longer permitted to work. This act however only applied to the textile
industry, and further agitation led to another act in 1847 limiting both adults and children
to 10 hour working days.[11] Enforcement was difficult due to the small number of
inspectors.[8]

By 1900, there were 1.7 million child laborers reported in American industry under the
age of fifteen.[12] The number of children under the age of 15 who worked in industrial
jobs for wages climbed to 2 million in 1910.[13]

[edit] Present day

A young boy recycling garbage in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2006
See also: Children's rights

Child labor is still common in some parts of the world, it can be factory work, mining,[14]
prostitution, quarrying, agriculture, helping in the parents' business, having one's own
small business (for example selling food), or doing odd jobs. Some children work as
guides for tourists, sometimes combined with bringing in business for shops and
restaurants (where they may also work as waiters). Other children are forced to do
tedious and repetitive jobs such as: assembling boxes, polishing shoes, stocking a store's
products, or cleaning. However, rather than in factories and sweatshops, most child labor
occurs in the informal sector, "selling many things on the streets, at work in agriculture or
hidden away in houses—far from the reach of official labor inspectors and from media
scrutiny." And all the work that they did was done in all types of weather; and was also
done for minimal pay. As long as there is family poverty there will be child labor.[15]

According to UNICEF, there are an estimated 158 million children aged 5 to 14 in child
labor worldwide, excluding child domestic labour.[16] The United Nations and the
International Labor Organization consider child labor exploitative,[17][18] with the UN
stipulating, in article 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child that:

...States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic
exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere
with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental,
spiritual, moral or social development. Although globally there is an estimated 250
million children working.[18]

In the 1990s every country in the world except for Somalia and the United States became
a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, or CRC. Somalia eventually
signed the convention in 2002; the delay of the signing was believed to been due to
Somalia not having a government.[19]
A boy repairing a tire in Gambia

In a recent paper, Basu and Van (1998)[20] argue that the primary cause of child labor is
parental poverty. That being so, they caution against the use of a legislative ban against
child labor, and argue that should be used only when there is reason to believe that a ban
on child labor will cause adult wages to rise and so compensate adequately the
households of the poor children. Child labor is still widely used today in many countries,
including India and Bangladesh. CACL estimated that there are between 70 and 80
million child labourers in India.[21]

Child labor accounts for 22% of the workforce in Asia, 32% in Africa, 17% in Latin
America, 1% in US, Canada, Europe and other wealthy nations.[22] The proportion of
child laborers varies a lot among countries and even regions inside those countries.

[edit] Recent child labor incidents

Young girl working on a loom in Aït Benhaddou, Morocco in May 2008.

[edit] Meatpacking

In early August 2008, Iowa Labor Commissioner David Neil announced that his
department had found that Agriprocessors, a kosher meatpacking company in Postville
which had recently been raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had employed
57 minors, some as young as 14, in violation of state law prohibiting anyone under 18
from working in a meatpacking plant. Neil announced that he was turning the case over
to the state Attorney General for prosecution, claiming that his department's inquiry had
discovered "egregious violations of virtually every aspect of Iowa's child labor laws." [23]
Agriprocessors claimed that it was at a loss to understand the allegations. Agriprocessors'
CEO went to trial on these charges in state court on May 4, 2010. After a five-week trial
he was found not guilty of all 67 charges of child labor violations by the Black Hawk
County District Court jury in Waterloo, Iowa on June 7, 2010. [24]

[edit] Firestone

The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company operate a metal plantation in Liberia which is
the focus of a global campaign called Stop Firestone. Workers on the plantation are
expected to fulfil a high production quota or their wages will be halved, so many workers
brought children to work. The International Labor Rights Fund filed a lawsuit against
Firestone (The International Labor Fund vs. The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company) in
November 2005 on behalf of current child laborers and their parents who had also been
child laborers on the plantation. On June 26, 2007, the judge in this lawsuit in
Indianapolis, Indiana denied Firestone's motion to dismiss the case and allowed the
lawsuit to proceed on child labor claims.

[edit] GAP
After the news of child laborers working in embroidery industry was uncovered in the
Sunday Observer on 28 October 2007, BBA activists swung into action. The GAP Inc. in
a statement accepted that the child laborers were working in production of GAP Kids
blouses and has already made a statement to pull the products from the shelf.[25][26] In spite
of the documentation of the child laborers working in the high-street fashion and
admission by all concerned parties, only the SDM (Sub-divisional Magistrate) could not
recognise these children as working under conditions of slavery and bondage.

Distraught and desperate that these collusions by the custodians of justice, founder of
BBA Kailash Satyarthi, Chairperson of Global March Against Child Labor appealed to
the Honorable Chief Justice of Delhi High Court through a letter at 11.00 pm.[27] This
order by the Honorable Chief Justice comes when the government is taking an extremely
reactionary stance on the issue of child labour in sweatshops in India and threatening
'retaliatory measures' against child rights organisations.[28]

In a parallel development, Global March Against Child labor and BBA are in dialogue
with the GAP Inc. and other stakeholders to work out a positive strategy to prevent the
entry of child labor in to sweatshops and device a mechanism of monitoring and remedial
action. GAP Inc. Senior Vice President, Dan Henkle in a statement said: "We have been
making steady progress, and the children are now under the care of the local government.
As our policy requires, the vendor with which our order was originally placed will be
required to provide the children with access to schooling and job training, pay them an
ongoing wage and guarantee them jobs as soon as they reach the legal working age. We
will now work with the local government and with Global March to ensure that our
vendor fulfils these obligations." [29][30]

On October 28, Joe Eastman, president of Gap North America, responded, "We strictly
prohibit the use of child labor. This is non-negotiable for us – and we are deeply
concerned and upset by this allegation. As we've demonstrated in the past, Gap has a
history of addressing challenges like this head-on, and our approach to this situation will
be no exception. In 2006, Gap Inc. ceased business with 23 factories due to code
violations. We have 90 people located around the world whose job is to ensure
compliance with our Code of Vendor Conduct. As soon as we were alerted to this
situation, we stopped the work order and prevented the product from being sold in stores.
While violations of our strict prohibition on child labor in factories that produce product
for the company are extremely rare, we have called an urgent meeting with our suppliers
in the region to reinforce our policies."[31]

[edit] H&M

In December 2009, campaigners in the UK called on two leading high street retailers to
stop selling clothes made with cotton which may have been picked by children. Anti-
Slavery International and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) accused H&M and
Zara of using cotton suppliers in Bangladesh. It is also suspected that many of their raw
materials originates from Uzbekistan, where children aged 10 are forced to work in the
fields. The activists were calling to ban the use of Uzbek cotton and implement a "track
and trace" systems to guarantee an ethical responsible source of the material.

H&M said it "does not accept" child labor and "seeks to avoid" using Uzbek cotton, but
admitted it did "not have any reliable methods" to ensure Uzbek cotton did not end up in
any of its products. Inditex, the owner of Zara, said its code of conduct banned child
labour.[32]

[edit] India

In 1997, research indicated that the number of child laborers in the silk-weaving industry
in the district of Kanchipuram in India exceeded 40,000. This included children who
were bonded laborers to loom owners. Rural Institute for Development Education
undertook many activities to improve the situation of child laborers. Working
collaboratively, RIDE brought down the number of child laborers to less than 4,000 by
2007.

On November 21, 2005, an Indian NGO activist Junned Khan,[33] with the help of the
Labor Department and NGO Pratham mounted the country's biggest ever raid for child
labor rescue in the Eastern part of New Delhi, the capital of India. The process resulted in
rescue of 480 children from over 100 illegal embroidery factories operating in the
crowded slum area of Seelampur. For next few weeks, government, media
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main39.asp?filename=cr050708laterdayslave.asp and
NGOs were in a frenzy over the exuberant numbers of young boys, as young as 5–6 year
olds, released from bondage. This rescue operation opened the eyes of the world to the
menace of child labour operating right under the nose of the largest democracy in the
whole world.

Next few years Junned Khan did extensive campaigning on the issue of children involved
in hazardous labor,[34] advocating with the central and state governments for formulation
of guidelines for rescue and rehabilitation of children affected by child labor. In 2005,
after the rescue, Junned Khan, collaborated with BBA to file petition in the Delhi High
Court for formulation of guidelines for rescue and rehabilitation of child labor. In the
following years, Delhi's NGOs, came together with the Delhi Government and
formulated an Action Plan for Rescue and Rehabilitation of child labor.[35]

[edit] Primark

BBC recently reported[36] on Primark using child labor in the manufacture of clothing. In
particular a £4.00 hand embroidered shirt was the starting point of a documentary
produced by BBC's Panorama (TV series) programme. The programme asks consumers
to ask themselves, "Why am I only paying £4 for a hand embroidered top? This item
looks handmade. Who made it for such little cost?", in addition to exposing the violent
side of the child labor industry in countries where child exploitation is prevalent. As a
result of the programme, Primark took action and sacked the relevant companies, and
reviewed their supplier procedures.
Child labor is also often used in the production of cocoa powder, used to make chocolate.
See Economics of cocoa.

[edit] Defense of child labor

Child workers on a farm in Maine, October 1940

Concerns have often been raised over the buying public's moral complicity in purchasing
products assembled or otherwise manufactured in developing countries with child labor.
However, others have raised concerns that boycotting products manufactured through
child labor may force these children to turn to more dangerous or strenuous professions,
such as prostitution or agriculture. For example, a UNICEF study found that after the
Child Labor Deterrence Act was introduced in the US, an estimated 50,000 children were
dismissed from their garment industry jobs in Bangladesh, leaving many to resort to jobs
such as "stone-crushing, street hustling, and prostitution", jobs that are "more hazardous
and exploitative than garment production". The study suggests that boycotts are "blunt
instruments with long-term consequences, that can actually harm rather than help the
children involved."[15]

According to Milton Friedman, before the Industrial Revolution virtually all children
worked in agriculture. During the Industrial Revolution many of these children moved
from farm work to factory work. Over time, as real wages rose, parents became able to
afford to send their children to school instead of work and as a result child labor declined,
both before and after legislation.[37]

Austrian school economist Murray Rothbard also defended child labor, stating that
British and American children of the pre- and post-Industrial Revolution lived and
suffered in infinitely worse conditions where jobs were not available for them and went
"voluntarily and gladly" to work in factories.[38]

However, the British historian and socialist E. P. Thompson in The Making of the
English Working Class draws a qualitative distinction between child domestic work and
participation in the wider (waged) labor market.[5] Further, the usefulness of the
experience of the industrial revolution in making predictions about current trends has
been disputed. Social historian Hugh Cunningham, author of Children and Childhood in
Western Society Since 1500, notes that:
 "Fifty years ago it might have been assumed that, just as child labor had declined
in the developed world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, so it
would also, in a trickle-down fashion, in the rest of the world. Its failure to do
that, and its re-emergence in the developed world, raise questions about its role
in any economy, whether national or global."[37]

According to Thomas DeGregori, an economics professor at the University of Houston,

in an article published by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank operating in
Washington D.C., "it is clear that technological and economic change are vital
ingredients in getting children out of the workplace and into schools. Then they can grow
to become productive adults and live longer, healthier lives. However, in poor countries
like Bangladesh, working children are essential for survival in many families, as they
were in our own heritage until the late 19th century. So, while the struggle to end child
labour is necessary, getting there often requires taking different routes—and, sadly, there
are many political obstacles.[39]

Lawrence Reed, president of the Foundation for Economic Education contends that the
infamously brutal child labour conditions during the early industrial revolution were
those of "apprentice children" (who were forced to work, even actually sold as slaves, by
government-owned Workhouses) and not those of "free-work children" (those who
worked voluntarily). So, the government and State-managed institutions, and not Laissez-
faire capitalism, is to blame. He further contends that, although work conditions of free-
work children were far from ideal, those have been wildly exaggerated in such
"authoritative" sources as the Sadler report, a fact that even the anti-capitalist Friedrich
Engels acknowledged.[40]

[edit] Efforts against child labor

The International Labor Organization’s International Programme on the Elimination of
Child Labor (IPEC), founded in 1992, aims to eliminate child labor. It operates in 88
countries and is the largest program of its kind in the world.[41] IPEC works with
international and government agencies, NGOs, the media, and children and their families
to end child labor and provide children with education and assistance.[4

ndia accounts for the second highest number where child labour in the world is
concerned. Africa accounts for the highest number of children employed and exploited.
The fact is that across the length and breadth of the nation, children are in a pathetic
condition.

While experts blame the system, poverty, illiteracy, adult unemployment; yet the fact is
that the entire nation is responsible for every crime against a child. Instead of nipping the
problem at the bud, child labour in India was allowed to increase with each passing year.
And today, young ones below the age of 14 have become an important part of various
industries; at the cost of their innocence, childhood, health and for that matter their lives.
Here is a look at the various labour activities involving children, across the length
and breadth of India…

Bonded Child Labour :

This is also known as slave labour and is one of the worst types of labour for children and
adults, alike. In fact, in 1976 the Indian Parliament enacted the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act; herein declaring bonded illegal. However, the fact remains is that this
system of working still continues. According to certain experts approximately 10 million
bonded children labourers are working as domestic servants in India. Beyond this there
are almost 55 million bonded child labourers hired across various other industries.

Child Labour in The Agricultural Sector :

According to a recent ILO report about 80% child labourers in India are employed in the
agriculture sector. The children are generally sold to the rich moneylenders to whom
borrowed money cannot be returned.

Street Children :
Children on the streets work as beggars, they sell flowers and other items, instead of
being sent to school. They go hungry for days to gather. In fact, they are starved so that
people feel sorry for them and give them alms.

Children Employed At Glass Factories :

According to recent estimates almost 60,000 children are employed in the glass and
bangle industry and are made to work under extreme conditions of excessive heat.

Child Labour in Matchbox Factories :

Of the 2,00,000 labour force in the matchbox industry, experts claim that 35% are
children below the age of 14. They are made to work over twelve hours a day, beginning
work at around 4 am, everyday.

Carpet Industry Child Labour :

According to a recent report by the ILO almost 4,20,000 children are employed in the
carpet industry of India.

The Other Industries :

According to researchers there are about 50,000 children employed in the brass industry
of India and around the same amount in the lock industry.

• Home
• What is Child Labour
• Causes of Child Labour
• Child Labour in India
• Child Labour Laws
• Child Labour in China
• Child Labour in Africa
 • Child Labour Statistics
• Reporting Child Labour

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Copyright © 2008 www.childlabour.in | All Rights R
Today one of the greatest maladies that has spread across the world is that of child labor,
coupled with child abuse. It is a very scary thought when each year statistics show
increasing numbers. And this is not a problem afflicting under-developed or developing
nations, but also developed countries, though the numbers are comparatively less.

There are a number of experts around the world who are working towards controlling the
numbers, and eventually eradicating the problem. Seems like a difficult and nearly
impossible task, but then all the same immense efforts are being made in this direction.

The first step to solve any problem is to be aware of it. And the prime focus is to be
aware of the causes of child labour. The following causes listed, though from the Indian
prospective, are also the contributing factor to child exploitation in other nations…

The leading reason is poverty. Families need additional sources of income. And
unfortunately their poverty-stricken way of life makes them so ruthless that they sell their
children as commodities to exploitive employers. Most such employers pay a lump sum
for the child and then keep him or her imprisoned within the factory unit till the child
cannot work due to deteriorating health as a result of harsh living and working
conditions. A hard and terrifying truth about child labor in India!

Recognizing the increasing problem of child labour in India, the Parliament passed ‘The
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986’.

The purpose of this Act was to declare child labour as illegal and make it a punishable act
by any citizen of India. The Act is to bring to the notice of the people of this nation that
there are child labour laws to protect the child. However, in spite of this the situation has
not improved, nor has it been brought under control. For that matter it has worsened.

Given here are sections of the ‘The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,
1986’, to make readers aware of the laws with regards to the malice of child abuse
and labour…

Preamble to the Act : [61 of 1986]

lna-1 An Act to prohibit the engagement of children in certain employments and to
regulate the conditions of work of children in certain other employments Be it enacted by
Parliament in the Thirty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows :

(1) This Act may be called the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.

(2) It extends to the whole of India.

(3) The provisions of this Act, other than Part III, shall come into force at once, and Part
III shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in
the official Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different States and
for different classes of establishments.

Definitions : In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -

(i) "Appropriate Government" means, in relation to an establishment under the control of

the Central Government or a railway administration or a major port or a mine or oilfield,
the Central Government, and in all other cases, the State Government;

(ii) "Child" means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age;

(iii) "Day" means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at midnight;

(iv) "Establishment" includes a shop, commercial establishment, workshop, farm,

residential hotel, restaurant, eating-house, theatre or other place of public amusement or
entertainment;

(v) "Family", in relation to an occupier, means the individual, the wife or husband, as the
case may be, of such individual, and their children, brother or sister of such individual;

(vi) "Occupier", in relation to an establishment or a workshop, means the person who has
the ultimate control over the affairs of the establishment or workshop;

(vii) "Port authority" means any authority administering a port;

(viii) "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under Sec. 18;

(ix) "Week" means a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night or
such other night as may be approved in writing for a particular area by the Inspector;

(x) "Workshop" means any premises (including the precincts thereof) wherein any
industrial process is carried on, but does not include any premises to which the provisions
of Sec. 67 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), for the time being, apply.

Prohibition of Employment of Children in Certain Occupations and Processes :

No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the occupations set forth in
Part A of the Schedule or in any workshop wherein any of the processes set forth in Part
B of the Schedule is carried on: Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any
workshop wherein any process is carried on by the occupier with the aid of his family or
to any school established by, or receiving assistance or recognition from, Government.

Hours and Period of Work:

(1) No child shall be required or permitted to work in any establishment in excess of such
number of hours, as may be prescribed for such establishment or class of establishments.

(2) The period of work on each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed three
hours and that no child shall work for more than three hours before he has had an interval
for rest for at least one hour.

(3) The period of work of a child shall be so arranged that inclusive of his interval for
rest, under sub-section (2), it shall not be spread over more than six hours, including the
time spent in waiting for work on any day.

(4) No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.

(5) No child shall be required or permitted to work overtime.

(6) No child shall be required or permitted to work in, any establishment on any day on
which he has already been working in another establishment.

Weekly Holidays :

Every child employed in an establishment shall be allowed in each week, a holiday of one
whole day, which day shall be specified by the occupier in a notice permanently
exhibited in a conspicuous place in the establishment and the day so specified shall not be
altered by the occupier more than once in three months.

Health and Safety :

(1) The appropriate Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules
for the health and safety of the children employed or permitted to work in any
establishment or class of establishments.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions, the said rules may
provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:
(a) cleanliness in the place of work and its freedom from nuisance;
(b) disposal of wastes and effluents;
(c) ventilation and temperature;
(d) dust and fume;
(e) artificial humidification;
(f) lighting;
(g) drinking water;
(h) latrine and urinals;
(i) spittoons;
(j) fencing of machinery;
(k) work at or near machinery in motion;
(l) employment of children on dangerous machines;
(m) instructions, training and supervision in relation to employment of children on
dangerous machines;
(n) device for cutting off power;
(o) self-acting machines;
(p) easing of new machinery;
(q) floor, stairs and means of access;
(r) pits, sumps, openings in floors, etc.;
(s) excessive weights;
(t) protection of eyes;
(u) explosive or inflammable dust, gas, etc.;
(v) precautions in case of fire;
(w) maintenance of buildings; and
(x) safety of buildings and machinery.

Penalties :
(1) Whoever employs any child or permits any child to work in contravention of the
provisions of Sec. 3 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be
less than, three months but which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be
less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty thousand rupees or with
both.

(2) Whoever, having been convicted of an offence under Sec. 3, commits a like offence
afterwards, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less
than six months but which may extend to two years.

(3) Whoever - (a) fails to give notice as required by Sec. 9, or

(b) fails to maintain a register as required by Sec. 11 or makes any false entry in any such
register; or

(c) fails to display a notice containing an abstract of Sec. 3 and this section as required by
Sec. 12; or

(d) fails to comply with or contravenes any other provisions of this Act or the rules made
there under, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one
month or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.

Children will not be employed in the following according to the Schedules of the Act...

Part A Occupations :

Any occupation connected with:

(1) Transport of passengers, goods or mails by railway;

(2) Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or building operation in the railway premises;

(3) Work in a catering establishment at a railway station, involving the movement of a

vendor or any other employee of the establishment from one platform to another or into
or out of a moving train;
(4) Work relating to the construction of a railway station or with any other work where
such work is done in close proximity to or between the railway lines;

(5) A port authority within the limits of any port.

(6) Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks in shops with temporary licences.

(7) Abattoirs/slaughter Houses.

Part B Processes :

(1) Bidi-making.
(2) Carpet-weaving.
(3) Cement manufacture, including bagging of cement.
(4) Cloth printing, dyeing and weaving.
(5) Manufacture of matches, explosives and fire-works.
(6) Mica-cutting and splitting.
(7) Shellac manufacture.
(8) Soap manufacture.
(9) Tanning.
(10) Wool-cleaning.
(11) Building and construction industry.
(12) Manufacture of slate pencils (including packing).
(13) Manufacture of products from agate.
(14) Manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances, such as, lead, mercury,
manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene, pesticides and asbestos.
(15) "Hazardous processes" as defined in Sec. 2 (CB) and dangerous operations as
defined in rules made under Sec. 87 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948).
(16) Printing as defined in Sec. 2(k) (iv) of the Factories Act 1948 (63 of 1948).
(17) Cashew and cashew nut decaling and processing.
(18) Soldering processes in electronic industries.

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