The ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) sets minimum ages for admission to
employment to coincide with the age of completion of compulsory schooling: a general
minimum age of 15 years, with the possibility of doing light work compatible with schooling
from the age of 13. For developing countries these ages are respectively 14 and 12 years. A
majority of ILO member States have incorporated these minimum age standards into their
legislation.
Like many countries throughout the world, Jamaica has recognised that the problem of child
labour requires urgent attention, especially because increasingly, children are becoming involved
in dangerous forms of activities including prostitution, drug smuggling and gun-running. In
September 2000, the Government of Jamaica and the International Labour Organisation’s
Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO/IPEC) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to cooperate in developing policies and programmes to progressively reduce and
ultimately eliminate child labour in Jamaica. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has
oversight responsibility on all child labour issues and together with the Ministry of Health, is
expected to take a lead role in implementing the programme.