The latest updated regulation banning child labor was released
yesterday, underlining the nation's reinforced determination to
protect the rights and interests of
children.
The regulation bans the employment of children, defined as minors
16 years of age or less, by organizations - including
administrative bodies, and by social institutions, enterprises and
individually owned businesses.
The new regulation also bars organizations or individuals from
offering jobs to minors less than 16 years of age. It forbids
minors less than 16 years of age operating their own privately
owned small businesses as well.
The new regulation, endorsed by the State Council, will take effect
on December 1 and replaces the current one, which has been in
effect since 1991.
"The new regulation includes stipulations that make it more
specific and practical," said Wang Jie, a lawyer at the Qiankun law
firm in Beijing.
The new regulation states that employers must check the
identification cards of job applicants to make sure that they are
not under the age of 16 before employing them.
Unlike the old general terms of punishment for employing or
recruiting child laborers, the new regulation clearly stipulates
that offenders will receive punishments ranging from fines of up to
10,000 yuan (US$1,209) to criminal charges.
It
also goes beyond the old rule in imposing clear responsibilities on
labor, public security and industrial and commercial administrative
departments forcing them to keep check on the crime more
effectively.
Civil servants in these departments can be criminally charged for
abuse of power or dereliction of duty in handling child labor
cases.
(China
Daily October 17, 2002)