Response to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety’s Consultation Document on a Proposed Amendment to the Employment of Children Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 No. 477 to Implement the Provisions of Article 8.1 of the EC Directive 94/33A
Children’s Law Centre
July 2005


Introduction
The Children’s Law Centre is an independent charitable organisation established in September 1997 which works towards a society where all children can participate, are valued, their rights respected and guaranteed without discrimination and every child can achieve their full potential.
We offer training and research on children’s rights, we make submissions on law, policy and practice affecting children and young people and we run an advice/information/representation service. We have a dedicated free phone advice line for children and young people called CHALKY and a youth advisory group called Youth@clc. Employment issues comprise 2% (156) of the total number of issues raised through the CHALKY helpline since June 2000.
Our organisation is founded on the principles enshrined in The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), in particular:
• Children shall not be discriminated against and shall have equal access to protection.
• All decisions taken which affect children’s lives should be taken in the child’s best interests.
• Children have the right to have their voices heard in all matters concerning them.
From its perspective as an organisation, which works with and on behalf of children, both directly and indirectly, the Children's Law Centre is grateful for the opportunity to make this submission to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS).
General Comments
We welcome the fact that the DHSSPS is consulting on the proposed amendments to the Employment of Children Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 No.477 to implement to provisions of Article 8.1 of the EC Directive 94/33 as per its statutory duty under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. We would be grateful if you would provide us with details of how you have or intend to consult directly with children and young people as the group who will be impacted upon most by the implementation of this amendment and furnish us with a copy of the child accessible consultation document. Such consultation is essential not only in ensuring compliance with section 75, but also in ensuring the Department’s compliance with Article 12 of the UNCRC, one of the principles of the Convention - Respect for the views of the Child. In examining the government’s compliance with Article 12, the UNCRC Committee recommended that the government, “...take further steps to promote, facilitate and monitor systematic, meaningful and effective participation of all groups of children in society”. (Para 30 CRC/C/15/Add.188)

We are also grateful to the DHSSPS for consulting with the Children’s Law Centre at a very early stage in the process but wish to highlight the fact that we were not one of the groups consulted with at this final stage, resulting in our much delayed response. While we appreciate the value of early consultation, we would like this consultation to be continuous, with out involvement at all stages of the process. We trust that in future consultation exercises we will be consulted with at both the initial and final stages.
The Employment of Children Regulations Amendments

The Children’s Law Centre welcomes the proposed amendments to the Employment of Children (Northern Ireland) Regulations1996 (the Regulations) which will implement the provisions of Article 8.1 of the EC Directive 94/33 in Northern Ireland. We are aware of the need to strike the correct balance between the child’s right to be in adequately paid employment and the right to an effective education and believe that these amendments to the Regulations go some way to ensuring that this balance is achieved. We must express our disappointment that the DHSSPS in amending the Regulations did not take this opportunity to address a number of other inadequacies which exist in relation to children and employment in Northern Ireland, which we have highlighted to the DHSSPS and ODMFDM. It is our experience that the employment of children is an area which is very poorly regulated, with a lack of knowledge on the part of children, employers and those charged with enforcement, and often a blatant disregard being shown for the law which is seen as archaic and irrelevant.

Save the Children’s report, “Play Fair with Working Children” (1999), which is quoted in the consultation document, highlighted a number of concerns which we feel the DHSSPS should have addressed in order to substantially improve the lives of those children in employment in Northern Ireland. The research found, as has been our experience through the CHALKY helpline, that a large number of children were working illegally, either as a result of working before the age of 13 (29%), exceeding the number of hours permitted to work (32% worked more than the recommended two hours preschool day and 5% exceeded the seven hour Saturday and two hour Sunday limit) or working outside the times permitted by the legislation (35% worked beyond 7pm). The research also found that the laws relating to the employment of children in Northern Ireland are patchy, outdated and contradictory. One of the recommendations of the report was that Government should listen to working children and take their views into account when reviewing employment legislation. We very firmly believe that children should be meaningfully consulted with and have their views taken into account in all areas which affect them in accordance with the Government’s obligations under Article 12 of the UNCRC which states that,

“States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.”

The report also highlighted the need for new laws regulating child employment to be relevant and sensitive to the realities of children’s working lives. The participation of children and young people in this debate will be fundamental to ensuring that any changes to the laws which regulate the employment of children truly reflect the reality of children’s lives.

The monitoring of children in employment in Northern Ireland is carried out through the issuing of Employment Permits by Education and Library Boards. The majority of employers and the children themselves are unaware of this and as is stated in “Play Fair with Working Children” it is widely accepted that this process does little more than scratch the surface of those who should be licensed. The report also states that of the children interviewed in its compilation, only 8% held a work permit. This is still the case and we have been informed by the ELBs that only 28 children were registered for employment in Northern Ireland in 2003-2004, indicating a widespread disregard of the Regulations. There are obvious issues in relation to the monitoring and regulation of children in employment such as the lack of knowledge of the system and the failure to enforce employer obligations. As a result, the regulation of children in the workforce is highly inadequate and urgent review of the system, which takes into account the views of children and young people, is essential. This is more recently supported by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s (NSPCC’s) report, “Too Much Too Young” (2002) and the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People’s (NICCY) research “Children’s Rights in Northern Ireland” (2004). “Too Much Too Young” called on the Government to,
“introduce a national code which brings together all the different aspects of the law affecting school age workers, clarifying the law and ensuring that parents, employers and young people are aware of their rights, and the risks they should be protected from…
give local authorities more resources to enable them to better police how young people are being employed in their part of the country and launch a government sponsored campaign to raise awareness of the law.”
The NICCY research, “Children’s Rights in Northern Ireland” also identified a need for more effective monitoring of children in employment and highlighted a need for accessible information for children in relation to their employment rights.
It is our experience that many children and young people in employment believe that the law should be reviewed, in particular in relation to the limit of two hours work on a Sunday. While we recognise the religious and cultural sensitivities around working on a Sunday, there has in recent years been an increase in the number of people who work Sundays as part of their normal weekly working pattern. Currently 11% of the adult workforce work on Sundays (Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey, Spring 2004) and the Government must have regard to section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act, which outlaws discrimination on the ground of age and Article 2 of the UNCRC – the principle of non-discrimination, which states that,
“States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status.
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family members.”
The Government must also have regard to the rights of those children who would prefer to work on a Sunday in keeping with Article 14 of the UNCRC which states that,
“States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion”
It is very likely that the employment limit for children of two hours on a Sunday will be exceeded as a result of the increasing number of shops, hotels and public houses which open on a Sunday. “Play Fair with Working Children” found that 35% of children who took part in the study worked in shops, hotels and public houses. We believe that there should be a review of the number of hours children can work on a Sunday which takes into account the views of children and young people in an effort to ensure that the law is both complied with and relevant to children in employment in Northern Ireland.
We note that the DHSSPS states in the consultation document that there is no evidence of higher or lower participation or uptake by any specific group and that the policy will have no adverse impact on any of the section 75 nine categories. We believe that further research is necessary to establish whether or not there will be an adverse impact or higher or lower participation or uptake, with particular regard to gender, religion and race.
Conclusion
The Children’s Law Centre is grateful to have the opportunity to comment on the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety’s Consultation Document on a Proposed Amendment to the Employment of Children Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 No. 477 to Implement the Provisions of Article 8.1 of the EC Directive 94/33. We hope that our comments have been constructive and useful to the Department and are more than happy to meet with Department staff to discuss anything in this response. We wish to be kept informed of progress in the development of the legislation in relation to children in employment in Northern Ireland and look forward to the issues raised in this response being addressed, taken forward by the Department and hearing from the Department in the near future.