Legal Considerations and CSR Initiatives for Employing Minors: Analysis and Recommendations

Hi All,

We have recently interviewed a candidate who is determined to get the job. She is also in dire need since her family income isn't enough to bear her educational expenses. She wants to finance her own education. However, the biggest constraint is that she is 15 years old.

We would like to know if it is legal to employ her and what formalities the company needs to take care of in this respect.

Regards,
Mark

Under the circumstances given:

"She is also in dire need since her family income isn't enough to bear her educational expenses."

It would be advisable to finance her education as a Corporate Social Responsibility project. This will also earn 'better' goodwill for the company.

Warm regards.

Dear Mark
You can hire her as an Apprentice, whereby you may give her on-the-job training and also support her financially by paying her stipend. It’s mutually beneficial and legal too!
Regards
Shailesh Parikh
Vadodara, Gujarat
99 98 97 10 65

On the contrary, I was suggesting that the company sponsor her education as CSR. This will generate goodwill for the company. I did not mean to employ her; as without proper care, safeguards, and a scheme for it, it will raise many unpleasant issues. Sometimes the treatment can be worse than the cure, and one has to be pragmatic. Under the Factories Act, a child is one who has not completed his/her fifteenth year of age. Employing child labor is illegal. An adolescent is one who has completed fifteen years of age but not completed eighteen years of age.

Warm regards.

She can be recruited under the category of a young person. Anyone who has crossed 15 years of age and is below 18 years can be recruited as a young person, subject to a government doctor certifying that the young person is medically fit to do the job for which the young person is recruited. The law also states that the total working hours for a young person will not exceed 40 hours a week, and no overtime is permitted.

Many established and reputed organizations have resorted to this category of recruitment. In the late eighties, Titan Watches recruited over 3,000 operator trainees under this category by visiting various schools and recruiting students who had passed out of their tenth grade from rural India.

Offhand, I do not recall the specific sections. However, you could find the information by getting in touch with a good lawyer.

Regards

Why does she need to work to earn money and get an education? She can approach any institutions of her caste/religion where free education or scholarships are provided. It is not necessary for her to work and study, which would be very tough for her. This is what you can suggest to her.

Dear Mark,

Both the girl's determination to get the job to pursue her education and your gesture to employ her are highly appreciable. Since she has completed her 15th year of age, I think that there is no legal hurdle for her employment in your concern. Even the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 does not put a blanket ban on child labor; on the other hand, it permits the employment of children subject to certain conditions. Other labor enactments too invariably permit adolescents or young persons subject to general restrictions such as lesser working hours, a ban on overtime work - it depends upon the type of establishment. In the words of the ancient Tamil Poetess AVVAIYAR, getting an education would be preferable even if one has to go begging. So, please go ahead!

Dear Mark,

As a CSR activity, you can help needy people by sponsoring their education. Upon successful completion of their studies, you can offer them positions as trainees within your company. Additionally, you have the opportunity to choose specific schools and colleges to support economically disadvantaged students who are excelling academically.

Thank you for considering these impactful initiatives.

Best regards, [Your Name]

I agree with Boss2966. First, we should help the needy people in their education, and then we can think of employing them. If she really wants to educate herself, then as Kraviravi said, she can approach any institution of her caste and get financial assistance. It would be difficult for her to manage both work and studies.

Lastly, my suggestion is not to employ her. Instead, help her in her studies. My emphasis is firstly on studies and then employment.