Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Myanmar (Ratification: 2020)

Article 7(1), (3) and (4) of the Convention. Minimum age for admission to, and determination of, light work. Noting the lack of information on this point in the report of the military authorities, the Committee once again recalls that, under the flexibility provisions of Article 7(1) and (4) of the Convention, national laws or regulations may permit the employment or work of persons aged 12 to 14 years in light work, provided that such work is not likely to be harmful to their health or development. Under Article 7(3) of the Convention, the competent authority shall determine what is light work and shall prescribe the number of hours during which, and the conditions in which, such employment or work may be undertaken. The Committee therefore once again requests the military authorities to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to adopt and implement light work regulations to ensure that work performed by children aged 12 to 14 is not harmful to their health or development.

Article 9(1). Sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties. The Committee notes the military authorities’ indication, in their report under Convention No. 182, that the Factories Act, 1951, has been amended and that it now provides for a fine of not less than 2,000,000 Kyat (approximately US$950.00), instead of the previously stipulated 500 Kyat (approximately US$0.25), as a penalty for a manager or occupier who contravenes any provisions of the Act. The Committee also recalls that section 27 of the Shops and Establishments Law provides for penalties of imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months and/or with a fine which may extend from a minimum of five million kyats to ten million kyats (approximately US$2,380.80 to US$4,760.00) for violations of the provisions related to the employment of children and young persons. Section 103(a) of the Child Rights Act provides that whoever: (i) employs a child to perform work which could pose physical or psychological harm or harm on the child’s dignity; or (ii) employs or permits a child to perform work which is hazardous or harmful to health, shall, upon conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term of minimum 8 months to maximum 5 years and may also be punished with a fine of minimum 800,000 Kyat to maximum 1,600,000 Kyat (approximately US$380.00 to US$760.00). The Committee once again requests the military authorities to provide information on the types of violations detected by the labour inspection services or other relevant law enforcement bodies, the number of persons prosecuted, and the penalties applied.

Article 9(3). Registers of employment. The Committee previously noted that the obligation to keep and maintain a register of all employees under the age of 18 to be made available to inspectors is not clearly provided for in the Child Rights Law and the Shops and Establishments Law. The Committee notes the indication by the military authorities under Convention No. 182 that a provision for the registration of books on the employment of young persons is stipulated in Rule 17 of the Shops and Establishment Rules, 2016. In this regard, section 21(b) of the Shops and Establishments Law provides that employers shall produce the registration book, evidence of employer or instruments relating to the business when the inspector asks them to do so. The Committee observes there is no provision clearly stipulating what the registers of employment must contain, but that section 38 of the Law provides that the Ministry may issue necessary rules, regulations or by-laws in implementing the provisions of the law. The Committee again requests that the military authorities indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that employers are legally required to keep registers of all workers under 18 years of age – not only in factories, shops, and establishments, but in all sectors covered by the Convention – in accordance with Article 9(3) of the Convention. The Committee further asks the military authorities to clarify whether any rules or regulations have been adopted under the Shops and Establishments Law and, if so, to specify which provisions require employers to maintain registers of all employees under 18 and make them available to inspectors.