B.C.\u0027s archaic child labour regulations will finally, almost, match the rest of the developed world with changes banning hazardous work.
that came into effect Jan. 1 prohibit children working at the most hazardous jobs. But many kids, including some as young as 12, will continue to be included among the estimated 160 million children working worldwide.
And as the labour shortage worsens in Canada and child poverty rises, more may have no choice but to go to work.Sign up to know what's really happening by reading daily editorials and commentary by British Columbia's opinion leadersBy clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails or any newsletter. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againAfter generations, B.C. has finally banned children aged 16 and 17 from working as loggers or at smelters. They are now banned from drilling for oil, and from jobs where they could be exposed to asbestos or radiation. Kids are now prohibited from working on power line construction, in refineries and in underground mines.But it is still OK for 12-year-olds to do whatever work is asked of them on their family farms .Article contentStarting at 16, kids can be hired to harvest crops by hand. It’s work that is paid by the piece at differing rates for different crops, with workers not entitled to overtime or statutory holiday pay. Fish, meat and chicken processors can still hire children as young as 16 and 17 as long as they aren’t killing and scalding animals, moving animals from pens, or operating scales, packaging machinery or meat slicers. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds will still be able to do construction work, but only as part of trainee or apprenticeship programs. That said, a provision remains allowing parents and the director of employment standards to give permission for 14- and 15-year-olds to do “light work”.Article content Of course, the province doesn’t call them children. In its news releases, they are “youth” and “young workers”. The regulations, however, follow the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child’s definition and use the words “child” and “children” for anyone under 18. Aside from the government-speak language shift, the pace of change in child labour laws and regulations has been glacial.Up until 2021, employers could hire 12-year-olds do hazardous jobs as falling trees, drilling for oil and gas, working with explosives, asbestos and radiation, or doing the heavy work in abattoirs.Article content For seemingly forever, about the only job deemed so hazardous that it could not be performed by anyone under 18 was pouring or serving alcohol. That restriction remains. Two years ago, the government sought public and “stakeholder” advice on the definition of “hazardous work”. Its online consultation launched last spring. Just guessing here, but I’m pretty sure that more industry representatives responded than parents and children.Up until the last week in December, WorkSafeBC data shows that 6,976 young workers were injured badly enough that their claims for compensation were accepted, down slightly fromThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Of those, 1,056 claims came from the construction sector — 1,013 related to general work, 30 from road building or maintenance, and 13 from heavy construction. Another 3,031 children were injured working in the service sector, and 1,209 were hurt at their retail and wholesale jobs. Child labour is a global problem that can’t be addressed solely by governments. Corporations — especially the large multinationals — may play an even more important role in curbing it. Worldwide, two of every three child labourers work in agricultural production and processing, which prompted Swedish-based Global Child Forum to begin an annual survey of the largest food, beverage and personal care companies.released in mid-December concluded that corporations are not addressing child labour in a systematic way. Fewer than 10 per cent of the 310 ranked companies are described as leaders, even though 77 per cent of them have policies aimed at curbing use of child labour.Article content A “relatively high percentage” — 48 per cent — also have processes for assessing suppliers’ use of child labour. But they don’t use them. “The seriousness of the commitment is put into some doubt given that only 25 per cent report on the outcomes of the effect or their policy against child labour,” the report says. “Just 23 per cent of companies disclose a preventive or remediation program to address it.” It points out that the pattern is not unique. Two-thirds of the companies don’t track the effects of or compliance with any of their human rights programs or initiatives. The forum notes that fractured supply chains that include small-scale farmers who rely on young family members to do the work make it “an enormous task to ensure that all harvesting of raw materials and productions processes comply with ethical standards.”Article content
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