Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labor Act

Legal basis and amendments made

Republic Act No. 9231 amends Republic Act No. 7610, otherwise known as the “Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.”
Section 1 amends Section 2 of Republic Act No. 7610.
Section 2 amends Section 12 of Republic Act No. 7610.
Sections 3, 4, and 5 amend Republic Act No. 7610 by adding Sections 12-A, 12-B, 12-C, and 12-D and by amending Sections 13 and 14.
Sections 6 and 7 amend Section 16 and add Section 16-A on the trust fund from fines and penalties.
Sections 8 and 9 amend Section 27 and add Sections 16-A, 16-B, and 16-C to cover jurisdiction, fee exemptions, and access to services.
Section 12 repeals or modifies all inconsistent laws, decrees, or rules.

State policy and best interests of children

The State policy is to provide special protection to children from all forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation and discrimination, including child labor and its worst forms.
The State must provide sanctions and carry out a program for prevention and deterrence of and crisis intervention in situations of child abuse, exploitation and discrimination.
The State shall intervene on behalf of the child when the parent, guardian, teacher, or person having care or custody fails or is unable to protect the child, or when the acts are committed by that person.
The State policy includes protection and rehabilitation of children gravely threatened or endangered by circumstances affecting their survival and normal development over which they have no control.
The best interests of children are the paramount consideration in all actions concerning them by public or private social welfare institutions, courts, administrative authorities, and legislative bodies, consistent with the “First Call for Children” principle under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Every effort must be exerted to promote the welfare of children and enhance their opportunities for a useful and happy life.

Prohibition on worst forms of child labor

The law prohibits engaging a child in the worst forms of child labor.
The term “worst forms of child labor” covers the following:
- All forms of slavery and practices similar to slavery, including sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom, forced or compulsory labor, including recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
- Using, procuring, offering, or exposing a child for prostitution, production of pornography, or pornographic performances;
- Using, procuring, or offering a child for illegal or illicit activities, including production and trafficking of dangerous drugs and volatile substances prohibited under existing laws;
- Work that is hazardous or likely to be harmful to health, safety, or morals, including work that:
  - Debases, degrades, or demeans a child’s intrinsic worth and dignity;
  - Exposes the child to physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, or is highly stressful psychologically or prejudices morals;
  - Is performed underground, underwater, or at dangerous heights;
  - Involves dangerous machinery, equipment, and tools (such as power-driven or explosive power-actuated tools);
  - Exposes the child to physical danger (including dangerous feats of balancing, physical strength, or contortion, or requiring manual transport of heavy loads);
  - Is performed in an unhealthy environment exposing the child to hazardous working conditions, elements, substances, co-agents, or processes involving ionizing/radiation/fire/flammables/noxious components and the like, or extreme temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations;
  - Is performed under particularly difficult conditions;
  - Exposes the child to biological agents such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoans, nematodes, and other parasites;
  - Involves manufacture or handling of explosives and other pyrotechnic products.

Permitted child employment rules

The law provides that children below fifteen (15) years of age shall not be employed, except under two specific exceptions.
Exception 1 (family-only work): Employment is allowed when a child works directly under the sole responsibility of his/her parents or legal guardian and only members of the family are employed, provided that:
- Employment does not endanger the child’s life, safety, health, and morals; and
- Employment does not impair the child’s normal development; and
- The parent or legal guardian provides the child with the prescribed primary and/or secondary education.
Exception 2 (essential work in public entertainment/information): Employment or participation is allowed when essential for public entertainment or information through cinema, theater, radio, television, or other forms of media, provided that:
- The employment contract is concluded by the child’s parents or legal guardian, with the express agreement of the child concerned, if possible; and
- The employment is approved by the Department of Labor and Employment.
In the two exceptions, the following requirements must be strictly complied with in all instances:
- The employer must ensure the protection, health, safety, morals, and normal development of the child;
- The employer must institute measures to prevent the child’s exploitation or discrimination, taking into account the system and level of remuneration, and the duration and arrangement of working time;
- The employer must formulate and implement, subject to approval and supervision of competent authorities, a continuing program for training and skills acquisition of the child.
In exceptional cases where a child may be employed, the employer must first secure, before engaging the child, a work permit from the Department of Labor and Employment ensuring observance of the above requirements.
For purposes of the employment provisions, the term “child” applies to all persons under eighteen (18) years of age.

Working child limits, income, and trust fund

Under the exceptions for employment:
- A child below fifteen (15) may work up to twenty (20) hours a week, and no more than four (4) hours in any given day;
- A child fifteen (15) but below eighteen (18) may not work more than eight (8) hours a day and in no case beyond forty (40) hours a week.
No child below fifteen (15) may work between eight o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning of the following day; and no child fifteen (15) but below eighteen (18) may work between ten o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning of the following day.
The wages, salaries, earnings, and other income of a working child belong to the child in ownership and must be set aside primarily for the child’s support, education, or skills acquisition, and secondarily to collective family needs.
Not more than twenty percent (20%) of the child’s income may be used for collective family needs.
The income and/or property acquired through the work of the child must be administered by both parents.
If one parent is absent or incapacitated, the other parent administers the income and/or property; if both parents are absent or incapacitated, the order of preference on parental authority provided for under the Family Code applies.
For working children below eighteen (18), the parent or legal guardian must set up a trust fund for at least thirty percent (30%) of the child’s earnings where the wages, salaries, and other income amount to at least two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00) annually.
The parent or legal guardian must render semi-annual accounting of the trust fund to the Department of Labor and Employment in compliance with the Act.
The child has full control over the trust fund upon reaching the age of majority.

Education, training, and advertising bans

The law guarantees that no child shall be deprived of formal or non-formal education.
In all cases of employment allowed in the Act, the employer must provide the working child with access to at least primary and secondary education.
The Department of Education (DEPED) must:
- Formulate, promulgate, and implement relevant and effective course designs and educational programs;
- Conduct necessary training to implement the appropriate curriculum;
- Ensure availability of needed educational facilities and materials; and
- Conduct continuing research and development program for necessary and relevant alternative education of the working child.
DEPED must promulgate a course design under non-formal education aimed at promoting the intellectual, moral, and vocational efficiency of working children who have not undergone or finished elementary or secondary education, integrating the most effective learning process under given circumstances.
The law prohibits employing any child as a model in any advertisement directly or indirectly promoting:
- Alcoholic beverages;
- Intoxicating drinks;
- Tobacco and its byproducts;
- Gambling; or
- Any form of violence or pornography.

Penal provisions and closure orders

An employer who violates Sections 12, 12-A, and 14 is punishable by imprisonment of six (6) months and one (1) day to six (6) years, or a fine of not less than P50,000 but not more than P300,000, or both at the discretion of the court.
A person who violates Section 12-D, or the employer of a subcontractor who employs (or the person who facilitates the employment of a child in hazardous work), faces:
- A fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P1,000,000, or
- Imprisonment of not less than twelve (12) years and one (1) day to twenty (20) years, or both at the discretion of the court.
Violations of Section 12-D(1) and 12-D(2) must be prosecuted and penalized in accordance with Republic Act No. 9208 (Anti-trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), with the penalty imposed in its maximum period.
Violations of Section 12-D(3) must be prosecuted and penalized in accordance with Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002), with the penalty imposed in its maximum period.
If a corporation commits any of the violations, the board of directors/trustees and officers, including the president, treasurer, and secretary, who participated in or knowingly allowed the violation, are penalized accordingly under the same section.
Parents (including biological or by legal fiction) and legal guardians found violating Sections 12, 12-A, 12-B, and 12-C are punishable by:
- A fine of not less than P10,000 but not more than P100,000, or
- Community service for not less than thirty (30) days but not more than one (1) year, or both at the discretion of the court.
The maximum length of community service is imposed on parents or legal guardians who have violated the provisions three (3) times.
For parents or legal guardians who violate the provisions more than three (3) times, the court imposes imprisonment of thirty (30) days but not more than one (1) year, or both imprisonment and community service at the court’s discretion.
The Secretary of Labor and Employment (or duly authorized representative) may, after due notice and hearing, order the closure of any business firm or establishment found to have violated the Act more than three (3) times.
The Secretary must order immediate closure if:
- The violation results in the death, insanity, or serious physical injury of a child employed in the establishment; or
- The firm or establishment is engaged or employed in prostitution or in obscene or lewd shows.
Upon closure, the employer must pay the employee(s) the separation pay and other monetary benefits provided for by law.

Trust fund from fines and immediate services

Fines imposed by the court are treated as a Trust Fund administered by the Department of Labor and Employment.
The trust fund is disbursed exclusively for:
- The needs of victims, including costs of rehabilitation and reintegration into the mainstream of society of working children who are victims of violations;
- Programs and projects that will prevent acts of child labor.
The working child is entitled to free legal, medical and psycho-social services provided by the State.

Complaints, jurisdiction, and procedural timelines

Complaints on unlawful acts committed against children enumerated under the Act may be filed by:
- The offended party;
- Parents or guardians;
- An ascendant or collateral relative within the third degree of consanguinity;
- An officer, social worker, or representative of a licensed child-caring institution;
- An officer or social worker of the Department of Social Welfare and Development;
- The Barangay chairman of the place where the violation occurred, where the child is residing, or where the child is employed; or
- At least three (3) concerned, responsible citizens where the violation occurred.
The family courts have original jurisdiction over all cases involving offenses punishable under the Act.
Where there are no family courts in a city or province, the regional trial courts and municipal trial courts have concurrent jurisdiction depending on the penalties prescribed for the offense charged.
Preliminary investigation of cases filed under the Act must be terminated within thirty (30) days from filing.
If the preliminary investigation establishes a prima facie case, the corresponding information must be filed in court within forty eight (48) hours from termination of the investigation.
Trial of cases under the Act must be terminated by the court not later than ninety (90) days from the date of filing of the information.
Decisions must be rendered within fifteen (15) days from the date of submission of the case.

Filing-fee exemptions; IRR; separability; repeal

When the victim of child labor institutes a separate civil action for recovery of civil damages, the victim is exempt from payment of filing fees.
The Secretary of Labor and Employment, in coordination with the Committees on Labor and Employment of both Houses of Congress, must issue the necessary Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) within sixty (60) days from effectivity, in consultation with concerned public and private sectors.
The IRR take effect upon publication in two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.
If any provision is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect (separability clause).
All laws, decrees, or rules inconsistent with the Act are repealed or modified accordingly (repealing clause).