Prevent illegal use of child labor

After Hai Duong Newspaper's Fanpage posted information about a karaoke bar in Gia Loc being heavily fined for illegally employing underage labor, some readers pointed out many other locations that are or have used child labor.

Many people ask, how is it illegal to use child labor? Is it a violation of child labor laws when parents ask their children to do housework, sometimes including heavy work?

Indeed, in many places in Vietnam in general, and Hai Duong in particular, due to limited understanding of child labor regulations, some people unintentionally violate them without knowing it. Once, when I went to Hoang Dieu leather and shoe village (Gia Loc), I saw a factory hiring child laborers to work. The factory owner let the children do jobs such as spraying paint and applying glue to shoe soles without knowing about the regulation that children under 13 years old are not allowed to come into contact with toxic chemicals such as paint and glue. It was only when local officials came to inspect and remind the factory owner that he found out and transferred the children to more suitable jobs.

Child labor at an early age may create material benefits for society, but in the long run, the benefits cannot compensate for the disadvantages that children have to bear as well as the consequences for their families and society. Child labor at an early age will limit opportunities and conditions for comprehensive development both physically and mentally. In many cases, children have even been lured into illegal work or abused and violated by bad people.

According to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and a number of related units, in Vietnam in 2023, there were nearly 1 million children under 16 years old working illegally, accounting for 5.3% of the total number of children nationwide. Of these, more than 500,000 children had to work in difficult, toxic and dangerous conditions. Many children not only had to work hard but were also abused during the work process.

Many people still remember the heartbreaking story of Truong Quang Duy, a 14-year-old boy from Nghia Hanh district, Quang Ngai province, who was abused by the owner of a banh xeo restaurant in Yen Trung commune, Yen Phong district (Bac Ninh) a few years ago. Duy was forced to work long hours, beaten, even starved and suffered medieval-style whippings.

In Hai Duong, although there has not been a specific assessment of the current situation of child labor, the comments from readers on the information about the punishment of facilities using child labor above show that this situation still exists.

In 2021, the People's Committee of Hai Duong province issued a plan to implement the program to prevent and reduce illegal child labor for the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030. Hai Duong aims to reduce the rate of child labor and juvenile labor to 1% by 2025 and below 1% by 2030. Do not let children and minors do heavy, toxic, or dangerous work.

The 2016 Law on Children clearly establishes the principle of protecting children's rights in the field of labor, specifically in Article 26, which clearly stipulates that children have the right to be protected in all forms from being exploited for labor; not having to work before age, over time or doing heavy, toxic, or dangerous work as prescribed by law.

In parallel with the above principles of the 2016 Law on Children, the 2019 Labor Code also clearly states regulations to protect child labor in Vietnam. These regulations are compatible with the regulations on the working age of children according to Convention 138 of the International Labor Organization (ILO). The 2019 Labor Code prohibits the use of child labor in occupations that involve contact with harmful chemicals. Children are also not allowed to work more than 4 hours/day and 20 hours/week. In addition, when using child labor, it must be inspected, evaluated and permitted by the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. In addition to complying with strict requirements on the environment and working hours, the place of employment of child labor must also meet the requirements on criminal records and have no criminal records of child abuse...

As Vietnam joins many free trade agreements, regulations on child labor are becoming more important. To protect children and comply with international agreements, it is necessary to immediately prevent the illegal use of child labor.