Labor protection for children is regulated by the Constitution of the Dominican Republic, Law 16-92, dated as of May 29, 1992, which enacted the Labor Code and Law 136-03, dated as of July 22, 2003, which created the Minors’ Code for Protection of Children and Adolescents in the Dominican Republic.
The Labor and Minor’s Codes collect the rights granted by the International Labor Organization (OIT) under Convention 138 regarding the minimum working age and Convention 182 concerning the elimination of the worst types of childhood labor, as well as other international conventions ratified by the Dominican Republic, regarding child labor, these provisions being a huge advance in our labor and social system.
Both codes provide for children’s protection against abuse as well as labor and economic exploitation. Such protection is a responsibility of the Dominican state, and is executed through the Labor Ministry and the National Council for Childhood and Adolescence (CONANI). The Labor Ministry and the Social Security Department are the institutions responsible of the protection of adolescents’ labor and social security rights. These institutions must regulate the rules for hiring minors, especially the types of labor permitted for minors and the necessary conditions for the execution of their work.
Labor protection for minors is a fundamental right that the State must secure for all children and adolescents, as established in the Dominican Constitution and the Minor Code.
The Labor Code, establishes as principle XI, that minors cannot be employed for labor inappropriate for their age condition or which can impede attending to school. However,, although the Labor Code establishes that work for children less than 14 years of age is prohibited, it also provides that the Labor Ministry can grant them individual work permits, as long as they are employed in public events, such as in radio, television or movies, as actors or figurants.
In this sense, adolescents less than 14 or 16 years of age can be employed in concerts or theater shows until 12:00 AM, as long as the Ministry of Labor has previously approved. Nonetheless, the employment of minors younger than 16 years old for dangerous and unhealthy work is strictly prohibited. The Ministry of Labor defines what is considered dangerous and unhealthy.
In this sense, the Ministry of Labor establishes that children under 16 years of age cannot be employed to work during the night, or during a period of 12 consecutive hours. In all cases, minors under 16 years of age cannot work for more than 6 hours per day. They cannot work neither as messengers in the distribution or delivery of merchandise nor as sellers of alcoholic beverages.
In the same way, the Labor Code prohibits employees from hiring minors to work in mobile businesses without the previous authorization of the Labor Ministry. In this sense, a mobile business would entitle the sale of items, products, merchandise, lottery tickets, newspaper or brochures, shoe shining, among others.
When minors sign an apprenticeship or internship agreement with a company, the employer must describe the different methods used to teach them their duties and responsibilities at work. These contracts must be no longer than 2 years for artisanal work and 6 months for industrial work.
In all cases, when the Labor Ministry allows hiring minors, their employer must grant them the required facilities, so they can comply with their schooling programs and for attending vocational schools.
It is important to mention that the Labor Code does not distinguish between minors and employees of age, since it provides that minors have the same rights and duties as other employees. It is important to mention that employers who do not comply with the above mentioned provisions designed to protect the labor rights of minors, will be sanctioned with fines from 7 to 12 wages.