No one under 14 may be employed at all. A worker aged 14 to 18 is an adolescent and may work, but never in a mine, with inflammable substances or explosives, or in a hazardous process, and only on restricted daytime hours. That is the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 as amended in 2016. Because most plant floors involve a hazardous process, most sites simply deploy no one under 18.
Who counts as a child, and who as an adolescent
A child is under 14; an adolescent is 14 or over but not yet 18. The 2016 amendment, in force from 1 September 2016 according to the Ministry of Labour, set both definitions and split the rules between them:
| Age | The rule | Where it is set |
|---|---|---|
| Under 14 (or the age set by the Right to Education Act, if higher) | May not be employed or permitted to work in any occupation or process. The only exceptions are helping a family enterprise outside school hours and work as an artist, neither of which reaches a contract deployment | s.2(ii) and s.3, Amendment Act 2016 |
| 14 to under 18 | May work, except in the occupations and processes listed in the Schedule, and subject to the conditions of work in Part III of the Act | s.2(i) and s.3A |
| Under 18, in a mine | May not work in a mine at all; apprentices and trainees aged 16 or over may, under proper supervision | OSH Code 2020, s.70 |
Where an adolescent cannot work
Anywhere the Schedule lists, and on a plant floor that is most of the floor. The Schedule substituted in 2016 names three things: mines, inflammable substances or explosives, and "hazardous process" as the Factories Act 1948 defines it (Amendment Act 2016, s.22). A hazardous process in that sense covers the industries listed in that Act's First Schedule, from metals, chemicals and cement to rubber and leather [VERIFY: the First Schedule list]. After the amendment the Ministry also expanded the Schedule, splitting it into Part A, where adolescents may not work, and Part B, which adds work that children may not help with even in a family enterprise.
The Central Government can notify the kinds of non-hazardous work an adolescent may do (proviso to s.3A). In practice that leaves office, canteen or reception roles at most sites, rarely the production, warehouse or maintenance work a contractor is engaged for.
If an adolescent does work: hours, leave and paperwork
Their working conditions are set by Part III of the 1986 Act, which the OSH Code adopts. Section 25(4) of the Code says an adolescent's working hours are regulated under that Act, and the 2016 amendment replaced "child" with "adolescent" throughout Part III (ss.7 to 13).
- Short day hours. No more than three hours at a stretch without an hour's rest, a spread-over of no more than six hours, no work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m., no overtime, and no work for a second employer on the same day (s.7) [VERIFY: the 1986 text of s.7, not opened this run].
- A weekly holiday, fixed and displayed (s.8).
- Notice to the inspector when an adolescent is employed (s.9), and a register of each adolescent's date of birth, work and hours (s.11) [VERIFY: the time limits and contents in the 1986 text].
- Annual leave at a faster rate. An adolescent earns one day of paid leave for every fifteen days worked, against twenty for an adult (OSH Code s.32(1)(ii)).
These conditions do not fit shift work. A plant running two or three shifts cannot place an adolescent on most of its rosters at all, which is another reason most sites set their floor at 18.
What a breach costs, and who is exposed
Imprisonment is the first penalty in the Act, not the last. Section 14, as substituted in 2016, punishes whoever "employs any child or permits any child to work" in breach of section 3, and the same for an adolescent under section 3A:
| Offence | Penalty | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Employing or permitting a child to work, or an adolescent in a Schedule occupation or process | Imprisonment of six months to two years, or a fine of ₹20,000 to ₹50,000, or both | s.14(1) and (1A) |
| A repeat of either offence | Imprisonment of one to three years | s.14(2) |
| Any offence by an employer under s.3 or s.3A | Cognizable: the police can act without a warrant | s.14A |
| A rescued child or adolescent | Fines go to a district Rehabilitation Fund, and the State adds ₹15,000 for each child or adolescent | s.14B |
The offence is to employ or permit to work, which reaches further than the payroll. A contractor that deploys a 16-year-old is employing them; whether the site whose floor they work on has permitted it is a question of fact for the site's own counsel. Enforcement is real: the Ministry of Labour reports about 14.34 lakh inspections under the Act between 2013 and 2018, around 10,000 prosecutions and more than 4,530 convictions.
What a site should check
Date of birth, from a document, before the first shift. The check belongs at Screening, with the UAN and ESIC number, not at the gate on day one.
- A date of birth from an identity document for every worker on the contractor's list, copied to the worker's file. Where age is in doubt, the Act sends the question to a prescribed medical authority (s.10) [VERIFY: the 1986 text of s.10].
- The date of birth on the gate register, so that a substitute sent at short notice is checked like everyone else.
- A contract clause that bars the contractor from deploying anyone under 18 to the site, or under the age the site sets, and makes a breach a ground for removal.
- A spot check against the register during the monthly audit, since the substitutes are where an under-age worker usually comes in.
How Velura Services helps
Every worker we deploy is screened for age from an identity document before they are scheduled, and the date of birth goes on the gate register with the UAN and ESIC number. Substitutes sent at short notice go through the same check. We deploy no one under 18 to production, warehouse or maintenance roles, and a site can set its own minimum in the work order.
Sources
- The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 (No. 35 of 2016), Gazette of India Extraordinary, 30 July 2016, copy on the Ministry of Labour's PENCiL portal. Sections cited: 4 (definitions of child and adolescent), 5 (new s.3), 6 (new s.3A), 11 to 17 (Part III amended to adolescents), 18 (new s.14 penalties), 19 (new ss.14A to 14D), 22 (new Schedule). Opened and read.
- Ministry of Labour and Employment, "Children and Work". Commencement on 1 September 2016; Part A and Part B of the revised Schedule; 14.34 lakh inspections, about 10,000 prosecutions and more than 4,530 convictions in 2013–18. Opened and read.
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act 37 of 2020), Gazette text hosted by DGFASLI. Sections cited: s.2 (adolescent, by reference to the 1986 Act), s.25(4) (adolescent working hours), s.32(1)(ii) (leave for adolescents), s.70 (no one under eighteen in a mine). Opened and read.
- The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 (Act 61 of 1986), consolidated text on India Code and PENCiL [VERIFY: India Code timed out and the PENCiL copy is a scanned image; the conditions in ss.7 to 11 are taken from the 1986 text as amended, not from a copy opened this run].