Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors : Article 3

LAW DETAILS

LINK TO FULL TEXT OF LAW:

http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c30834/202010/82a8f1b84350432cac03b1e382ee1744.shtml

SUMMARY OR KEY PROVISION OF THE LAW

The state guarantees the rights of minors to life, development, protection and participation. Minors shall enjoy all rights equally in accordance with the law and shall not be discriminated against on the basis of their ethnic status, race, sex, household registration, occupation, religious belief, education, family status or physical and mental health status of their parents or other guardians.

SUMMARY OF INTERPRETATIONS VARIANCE

N/A

LEGAL CONSEQUENCES FOR NON-COMPLIANCE

Article 60. With respect to infringement upon the lawful rights and interests of minors committed in violation of the provisions of this law, where administrative punishment is provided for by other laws or regulations, the provisions there shall prevail. If such infringement causes personal injury, loss of property or other damages, the infringer shall bear civil responsibility according to law. If a crime is constituted, criminal responsibilities shall be investigated according to law.

IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPROVEMENT GUIDANCE

COMPLIANCE IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPROVEMENT STEPS

Evaluate The Condition:

1. Compile and review all documents that request information from workers.  This may include employment application forms as well as documents that are required to be completed by new workers before they start working in the factory.

2. Review all work assignments and compensation details for all juvenile workers employed.

Take Action:

1. Factory management should decide which information should be collected from workers before they start in the factory so that they can be assigned a job properly.  Information that is not critical may include ethnic status, race, household registration, religious belief, family status, and information on a juvenile's family. 

2. Information that is not considered necessary should be removed from application forms and should not be asked of juvenile applicants. 

3. Any other information that is collected from juveniles should only be used in an effort to protect the health and safety of a juvenile worker and not in a discriminatory way.

COMMON CHALLENGES

Lack of awareness around gender issues and the law with regards to recruitment. Immature systems to evaluate performance as it relates to advancement.

The factory may have limited human resources to dedicate to the task, financial limitations or constraints, or a lack of written programs and employee training that commit to performing the task to ensure compliance.

BUSINESS CASE AND/OR OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

 The law requirement establishes the expectation that juveniles will be treated as other adults in a factory. Any information that a factory may collect from juvenile workers as per the law requirement cannot be used against a juvenile worker or influence their treatment of work in a factory.

Failure to adhere to the regulatory requirements for young workers can result in high penalties. Penalties and criminal charges can be particularly severe for factories and management in cases where young workers are injured or killed in the workplace as a result of regulations not being followed.

COMMON JOB FUNCTION: Human Resource Manager

COMMON JOB, SUB-FUNCTION: Hiring and Recruitment Manager

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

 Nil

RELATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Young Workers - Hiring, Medicals and Work Assignments

ASSOCIATED INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

ILO CLUSTER: Child Labour

ILO COMPLIANCE POINT: Child Labour

SDG RELEVANCE 4, 8, 12

Mosaic ID: Mosaic95597605