Особая охрана трудовых прав несовершеннолетних в законодательстве Беларуси, России и правовых актах Европейского союза

Abstract

The article "Special Protection of the Labour Rights of Underage Persons in the legislation of the Belarus, Russia and the Legal Instruments of the EU" explores some issues of legal regulation of the work of underage persons in the legislation of Belarus, Russia and the European Union as regards the minimum possible age for employment. It underlines that absolute majority of states envisage in their legislation a special protection of the given category of workers. The author analyses international legal norms aimed at protection of rights of underage persons. In particular, he shows the aims of requirements of the Declaration on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These instruments declare the right of a child to have protection from economic exploitation and from these types of labour that could be hazardous for his health, may damage physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development or could present an obstacle to obtaining education. The author shows that the main factor which determines the content of legal norms extended only to underage persons is the age criterion. It defines the age limit that the employer must not violate while employing teenagers. The Conventions of International Labour Organization pay great attention to the issues of the minimal possible age for employees. At present, 11 Conventions of ILO regarding minimal possible age for employees have been adopted. Clause 3 of the Article 2 of the ILO Convention N 138 runs as follows: "minimal possible age must not be lower than the age of completing the obligatory school education and, in any case, must not be under 15". The author analyses the content of the European Social Charter from 18.10.61 (new reading of 03.05.66). The Charter places on the state an obligation to observe the requirements of minimal age of 15 for employees. The article explores the norms of the European Union which are aimed at the protection of rights of underage persons in labour relations. Directive of the Council of the European Union N 33 "On protection of young people in the sphere of labour" from 22.06.94 defines the categories of young people who can conclude the employment contracts. The author compares the norms of Russian and Belarusian Labour Codes which regulate the employment of underage people and points out several differences in this sphere. The drawback of Russian legislation is that there is no mode for parents' agreement during hiring of employees over 14. Belarusian Labour Code has a definite stipulation — the agreement must be made in writing. Having explored the issues of legal protection of underage persons, the author notes that "children labour" concept consists of two aspects: harmful labour for a child and useful labour for a child. He also admits that "children labour" that can not be regarded as socially useful both for children and society is wide-spread in the world; children from 10 to 14 years are exploited. This phenomenon should be fought through the application of legal means.The author points out that plurality of terms which define the "young people" category does not promote adequate application and interpretation of legislation. The author suggests using the form "underage persons" specifying a certain age group instead of different terms such as "young people", "a child", "juvenile", "children" etc. The author believes that terminology of the normative acts on labour of underage persons should be made single. The law norms should have certain standards. The article states that Russia and Belarus will adopt new labour codes in the coming month. These codes will formulate more clearly the norms regarding age criteria of hiring of teenagers. The author believes that many difficulties will arise regarding the means of unification of standards in labour legislation in connection with the intention of Belarus and Russia to become a single state. That is why the main objective lies in studying the mechanisms of harmonization of legislation of the EU member-states.