[1]THE
EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN ACT 1991
(Act V of 1991)
[6 April 1991]
An
Act to prohibit the employment of children in certain occupations
Preliminary
1. Short
Title, Extent and Commencement.–
(1) This Act may be called the Employment of Children Act, 1991.
(3)
The provisions of this Act shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,–
(i) “adolescent”
means a person who has completed his fourteenth but has not completed his
eighteenth year;
(iii) “child”
means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age;
(iv) “day” means a period of twenty-four hours
beginning at midnight;
(v) “establishment”
include a shop, commercial establishment, workshop, factory, farm, residential
hotel or restaurant;
(vi) “factory” means any premises, including the
precincts thereof, wherein ten or more workers are working or were working on
any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a
manufacturing process is being carried on or is ordinarily carried on with or
without the aid of power but does not include a mine, subject to the operation
of the Mines Act, 1923 (No. IV of 1923);
(vii) “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;
(viii) “occupier”
in relation to an establishment, means the person who has the ultimate control
over the affairs of the establishment;
(ix) “Inspector”
means an official duly appointed and notified, as an inspector for the purpose
of this Act by the [4][Government];
(x) “port
authority” means any authority administering a port;
(xi) “prescribed”
means prescribed by rules made under section 18 of this Act;
(xii) “week”
means a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Thursday night or such
other night as may be approved in writing for a particular area by the
Inspector;
(xiii) “Workshop”
means any premises (including the precincts thereof) wherein any industrial
process is carried on;
(xiv) “mine” means any excavation where any
operation for the purpose of searching for or obtaining minerals has been or is
being carried on, and includes all work, machinery, tramways and sidings,
whether above or below grounds, in or adjacent to or belonging to a mine:
Provided
that it shall not include any part of such premises on which a manufacturing
process is being carried on unless such process is a process for coke-making or
the dressing of minerals.
Prohibition of Employment of Children in
Certain Occupations and Processes
3. Prohibition
on Employment.– No child shall be employed or
permitted to work in any of the occupations set forth in Part I of the Schedule
or in any workshop wherein any of the processes set forth in Part II of that
Schedule is carried on:
Provided that nothing in this
section shall apply to any establishment wherein such process is carried on by
the occupier with the help of his family or to any school established, assisted
or recognized by Government.
4. Amendment
of Schedule.– The [5][* * *] Government, may by notification in the official
Gazette, add any occupation or process to the Schedule and thereupon the
Schedule shall be deemed to have been amended accordingly three months after
the date of the notification.
5. [6][Punjab] Committee on the
Rights of the Child.– (1) The [7][* * *] Government may, by notification
in the official Gazette, constitute a [8][Punjab] Committee to be called the [9][Punjab] Committee on the “Rights of
the Child”, to perform the functions visualized in Article 43 of the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and to advise the [10][* * *] Government for the purpose of
addition of occupations and processes to the Schedule.
(2) The Committee shall consist of a Chairman
and 10 other experts [11][including four women] of high moral
standing and recognized competence.
Regulation of Conditions of Work of Children
6. Application
of Part.– The provisions of this Part shall
apply to an establishment or a class of establishments in which none of the
occupations or processes referred to in section 3 is carried on.
7. Hours
and Period of Work.– (1) No child or adolescent 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 an interval of at least one hour for
rest.
(3) The period of work of a child shall be so
arranged that inclusive of the interval for rest, under subsection (2), it
shall not exceed seven hours, including the time spent in waiting for work on
any day.
(4) No child shall be permitted or required
to work between 7.00 p.m. to 8.00 a.m.
(5) No child shall be required or permitted
to work over-time.
(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.
8. 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 displayed 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.
9. Notice to Inspector.– (1) Every occupier in relation to an
establishment in which a child was employed or permitted to work immediately
before the date of commencement of this Act in relation to such establishment
shall, within a period of thirty days from such commencement, send to the
Inspector within whose local limits the establishment is situated, a written
notice containing the following particulars, namely:-
(a) the
name location and address of the establishment;
(b) the
name of the person in actual management of the establishment;
(c) the
address to which communications relating to the establishment should be sent;
and
(d) the nature of the occupation or process carried on in the
establishment.
(2) Every occupier, in relation to an establishment, which
employs, or permits to work, any child after the date of commencement of this
Act in relation to such establishment, shall, within a period of thirty days
from the date of such employment send to the Inspector within whose local
limits the establishment is situated, a written notice containing the
particulars mentioned in sub-section (1).
(3) Nothing
in sections 7, 8 and 9 shall apply to any establishment wherein any process is
carried on by the occupier with the aid of his family or to any school
established, assisted or recognized by Government.
10. Disputes as to Age.– If any question arises between an
Inspector and an occupier as to the age of any child who is employed or is
permitted to work by him in an establishment, the question shall, in the
absence of a certificate as to the age of such child granted by the prescribed
medical authority, be referred by the Inspector for decision to the prescribed
medical authority.
11. Maintenance
of Register.– There shall be maintained by every
occupier in respect of children employed or permitted to work in any
establishment, a register to be available for inspection by an Inspector at all
times during working hours showing:–
(a) the name and date of
birth of every child so employed or permitted to work;
(b) hours and periods of work of any such
child and the intervals of rest to which he is entitled;
(c) the nature of work of any such child;
and
(d) such other particulars as may be
prescribed.
12. Display
of Notice containing abstract of sections 3 and 14.– Every occupier shall cause to be displayed in a conspicuous
and accessible place a notice in the local language and in the English language
containing an abstract of sections 3 and 14.
13. Health and Safety.– (1) The [12][* * *] 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 or 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 fumes;
(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
of inflammable dust, gas, etc.;
(v) precaution
in case of fire;
(w) maintenance
of buildings; and
(x) safety
of building and machinery.
Miscellaneous
14. Penalties.– (1) Whoever employs any child or permits any child to work
in contravention of the provisions of section 3 shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with a fine which may
extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both.
(2) Whoever, having been convicted of an
offence under section 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 section 9; or
(b) fails
to maintain a register as required by section 11 or makes any false entry in
any such register; or
(c) fails
to display a notice; or
(d) fails
to comply with or contravenes any provisions of this Act or the rules made
thereunder, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to
one month or with a fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.
15. Modified
Application of Certain Laws in Relation to Penalties.– (1) Where any person is found guilty and convicted of
contravention of any of the provisions regarding children and adolescents
mentioned in subsection (2), he shall be liable to penalties as provided in
sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 14 of this Act and not under other relevant
Acts.
(2) The provisions mentioned in sub section
(1) are the provisions regarding children and adolescents in the following
Acts:-
(a) The Mines Act 1923;
(b) The Factories Act 1934;
(c) The Shops and Establishments Ordinance
1969.
16. Procedure
relating to offences.– (1) Any
person, police officer or Inspector may file a complaint of the commission of
an offence under this Act in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) Every certificate as to the age of a
child which has been granted by a prescribed medical authority shall, for the
purposes of this Act, be conclusive evidence as to the age of the child to whom
it relates.
(3) No court inferior to that of a Magistrate
of the first class shall try any offence under this Act.
17. Appointment
of Inspectors.– The [13][* * *]
Government may appoint Inspectors for the purpose of securing compliance with
the provisions of this Act and any Inspector so appointed shall be deemed to be
a public servant within the meaning of the Pakistan Penal Code.
18. Power
to make Rules.– The [14][* * *]
Government may, by notification in the official Gazette and subject to the
condition of previous publication, make rules for carrying into effect the
provisions of this Act.
19. Certain other provisions of law not
barred.– Subject to the
provisions contained in section 15, the provisions of this Act and the rules
made thereunder shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the
provisions of the Mines Act, 1923; the Factories Act, 1934; [15][* * *]; the Shops and Establishments
Ordinance, 1969; and the Punjab Children Ordinance, 1983. The definition of
‘child’ and ‘adolescent’ in these provisions shall be deemed to have been
amended in accordance with the definitions in section 2 of this Act.
20. Power
to remove difficulties.– (1) If
any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the [16][* * *]
Government may by order published in the official Gazette, make such provisions
not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be
necessary or expedient for removal of the difficulty:
Provided
that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period of three years
from the date on which this Act receives the assent of the President.
21. Repeal
and Savings.– (1) The Employment of Children Act,
1938, is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything
done or any action taken or purported to have been done or taken under the Act
so repealed shall, in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act, be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding
provisions of this Act.
(See Section 3)
Part I
Occupations
Any
occupation connected with–
(1) transport
of passengers, goods or mails by railway;
(2) cinder
picking, cleaning 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; and
(6) work
relating to selling of crackers and fire works in shops with temporary
licences.
Part II
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 sploting.
(7) Shell
as manufacture.
(8) Soap
manufacture.
(9) Training.
(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.
[1]This Act of Majlis-e-Shoora
(Parliament) received the assent of the President on the 2nd April,
1991, and published in the Gazette of Pakistan (Extraordinary), dated 6th
April 1991, pp.69-77.
This Act was
originally in the Federal ambit, however, the subject on which this law was
enacted, has devolved to the provinces by virtue of 18th Amendment
in the Constitution, hence it was adopted, with amendments, for the province of
the Punjab by the Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011 (X of 2011).
[2]Substituted for the word “Pakistan”,
by the Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011 (X of 2011).
[3]Substituted ibid.
[4]Substituted for the words “Federal
Government or the Provincial Government concerned”, by the Employment of
Children (Amendment) Act 2011 (X of 2011).
[5]The word “Federal” omitted ibid.
[6]Substituted ibid., for the word
“National”.
[7]The word “Federal” omitted ibid.
[8]Substituted for the word “National” by
the Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011 (X of 2011).
[10]The word “Federal” omitted ibid.
[12]The word “appropriate” omitted by the
Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011 (X of 2011).
[13]The word “appropriate” omitted by the
Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011 (X of 2011).
[14]The word “appropriate” omitted by the
Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011 (X of 2011).
[15]The words, comma and figures “the
Sindh Children Act, 1955” omitted ibid.
[16]The word “Federal” omitted ibid.
[17]Sub-section (2) omitted ibid.
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