Government moving to curtail child labor in Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica is intensifying efforts to curtail child labor in the country through a ‘Risk Identification Model’ program being implemented to identify communities where this illicit activity is occurring, in order to facilitate interventions.

Director of Child Labor in the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Sacha Deer Gordon, said the initiative will entail creating vulnerability maps that highlight areas where child labor is suspected to be taking place, for monitoring and eventual action.

Identify highest probability

She said the system will allow the authorities to “identify the highest probability where child labor may occur, and in what sector” and cited a recent Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) study that revealed an estimated 38,000 children are involved in child labor locally.

The Director said once the victims are identified, “we put plans in place to interrupt that trajectory”, adding that steps are taken to monitor their recovery, because “we don’t want them to re-enter child labor.”

Illegal to employ children under age-13

Gordon said that business owners employing children under age 13 to work in their establishments are in breach of the Child Care and Protection Act, which stipulates that youngsters up to the age of 14 years can only be engaged in “light work” for no more than 14 hours per week.

The Act further stipulates that children, aged 15, can only engage in full employment if they have completed secondary education.

“But they cannot be engaged in hazardous work age 16… and it has to be done under supervision and with proper instructions,” she said, adding that the government continues to discourage child labor, emphasizing that “it is something that we are saying must stop”.

The government has already established a National Steering Committee, which meets monthly and utilizes various mechanisms designed to promote child rights.

Criminal offence

Child labor is a criminal offence, with penalties ranging from J$250,000 or three months’ imprisonment to a maximum of one million dollars.