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Minimum age for employment.
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4.—(1) Subject to the subsequent provisions of this section an employer shall not employ a child to do work.
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(2) An employer may, subject to subsections (3) and (4) of this section, employ a child who is over the age of fourteen years to do light non-industrial work which—
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(a) is not harmful to the health or normal development of the child, and
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(b) is not such work as will affect the attendance of the child at school or his capacity to benefit from the instruction given him therein.
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(3) (a) Whenever an employer employs a child during school terms pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, the hours of work of the child shall be outside school hours and shall be—
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(i) not more than two hours on any day, other than a Saturday or a Sunday,
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(ii) not more than fourteen hours in any week,
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(iii) not more than four hours on a Saturday or a Sunday:
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Provided that—
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(A) if a child is required to work for more than 2 hours on a Saturday, he shall not work on the next following Sunday, or
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(B) if a child is required to work for more than 2 hours on a Sunday, he shall not have worked on the immediately preceding Saturday.
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(b) This subsection shall remain in force only until the expiration of the period of two years beginning with the coming into force of this Act unless it is continued in force by an order under subsection (5) of this section.
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(4) Whenever an employer employs a child during school holidays pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, the hours of work of such child shall be—
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(i) not more than seven hours in any day, or
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(ii) not more than thirty-five hours in any week:
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Provided that during the period of the school summer holidays, the child does not do any work for a period of not less than fourteen consecutive days.
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(5) The Minister may by order at any time when subsection (3) of this section is in force provide that that subsection shall continue in force for a period not exceeding twelve months from the commencement of the order.
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(6) The Minister may by order—
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(a) vary the hours of work specified in subsections (3) and (4) of this section,
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(b) specify that children may not be employed on a particular day or during a particular period, and
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(c) revoke or amend an order made under this subsection including an order under this paragraph.
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(7) An employer who fails to comply with the provisions of this section and the parent or guardian of a child who aids or abets an employer in the contravention of this section shall each be guilty of an offence.
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(8) The Minister may by order declare any form of work specified in the order to be work which is not light non-industrial work and any work which stands so declared shall be deemed, for the purposes of this section, to be work to do which a child shall not be employed.
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(9) The Minister may by order declare any form of work specified in the order to be work which is light non-industrial work.
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(10) An employer who employs a child to do work which is specified in an order under subsection (8) of this section to be work which is not light non-industrial work shall be guilty of an offence.
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(11) The Minister may by order revoke or amend—
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(a) an order made under subsection (8) or (9) of this section, or
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(b) an order under this subsection.
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