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Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Jordan (RATIFICATION: 1998)

Other comments on C138

Observation

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Article 1 of the Convention. National policy. In response to the Committee’s previous observation that a significant number of children under the minimum age were engaged in child labour and in hazardous work in Jordan, the Government communicates, in its report, detailed information on the policies it has adopted to combat child labour in the country. The Committee takes note, in particular, of the National Strategy to stop child labour 2022–30 and its 2022 implementation plan, which includes various dimensions and strategic objectives for the prevention of, and protection from, child labour. Its three main components are: (1) prevention, awareness-raising and advocacy, to foster a public attitude that considers child labour as socially unacceptable; (2) interventions aimed at implementing the measures contained within the National Framework to Combat Child Labour and Begging of 2020, according to which the identification of child labourers and their protection is managed on a case-by-case basis; and (3) reintegration of child labourers, through support and social protection for the families of children at risk. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to combat child labour and to provide information on the specific measures taken, particularly under the framework of the National Strategy to stop child labour 2022–30, and the results achieved in this regard.

Article 9(1). Penalties and labour inspection. Following its previous request that the Government take the necessary measures to strengthen the capacity of the labour inspectorate and to expand the labour inspection services to all sectors, the Committee takes note of the Government’s detailed information regarding the activities of the labour inspectorate, including the establishment of an Inspection Department to Stop Child Labour and the holding of several trainings to develop the capacity of labour inspectors for the identification, prevention and case management of child labour. It notes with interest that the Instructions on procedures for inspecting agricultural activity of 2021 – adopted pursuant to the new Agricultural Workers Regulation No. 19 of 2021 that sets a minimum age of 16 years for employment of any kind in agricultural work and of 18 years in hazardous agricultural work (section 6) – establish detailed procedures for labour inspections in the agricultural sector. According to section 6 of the Instructions, labour inspectors are authorized to enter not only the agricultural establishment, but also worker accommodations and private homes within the agricultural holding, if such exists. Labour inspectors are authorized to issue warnings or violation reports to the agricultural employers who are in contravention with the law (section 5). In addition, the Committee notes the Government’s information on the other measures taken to strengthen the labour inspectorate, including to monitor recruitment agencies for the potential recruitment of underage non-Jordanian domestic workers and the surveillance of establishments operating in the textile and garment sector to verify their compliance with international labour standards, including on child labour.

The Committee further takes note of the statistics shared by the Government on the number of child labour-specific inspection visits made from 2021 to July 2022 in all sectors, including in agriculture: 36,714 visits revealed 1,291 cases of child labour; 452 warnings were issued to employers and 170 violation reports were issued. It observes, however, that there is an absence of information regarding the application of the penalties provided under the Labour Code (section 77(a)), or any other applicable legislation, on employers who have employed children under the minimum age. The Committee reminds the Government that it is necessary to ensure the application of the Convention by means of penalties set out in the legislation (General Survey on the Fundamental Conventions, 2012, para. 409). The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that persons found to be in breach of the provisions giving effect to the Convention are prosecuted and that adequate penalties are imposed. It also requests the Government to pursue its efforts to strengthen the functioning of the labour inspectorate to enable it to effectively monitor and detect cases of child labour, including children working in agriculture, domestic work and in the textile and garment sector. Finally, it requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number and nature of violations detected by the labour inspectorate related to children engaged in child labour, as well as on the penalties applied.

Application of the Convention in practice. Statistics on child labour. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the application of the Convention in practice. In particular, it requests the Government to provide statistics on the employment of children under the age of 16, as well as on the employment of children under the age of 18 in hazardous work, disaggregated by age, gender and sector of economic activity.