Peer-reviewed article
The Legal Protection Towards Child Labour in an Attempt to Improve Their Work Safety and Health
Wiwi Yuhaeni ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines legal protections for child labourers in Indonesia's informal shoe-making industry, where an estimated 2 to 4 million children aged 14 and under work. The research identifies gaps in government enforcement and employer compliance with labour laws regarding working hours, wages, rest breaks, and workplace safety. The study found that legal protections are inadequate, parental oversight is minimal, and supervision by government labour offices is insufficient to protect children's rights and health.
Key points
- An estimated 2 to 4 million 14-year-old children in Indonesia are engaged in forced labour, primarily in the informal sector
- Legal protections exist through national and international labour law but are not effectively implemented in the shoe-making industry studied
- Employers do not consistently comply with provisions for working hours, wages, and rest breaks as required by labour law
- Government supervision and control by the Office of Manpower and Transmigration is inadequate
- Parents and proxies cannot effectively ensure children's rights are fulfilled due to weak legal enforcement
Limitations
This document is a descriptive study of legal frameworks and conditions in one industry (shoe-making) in Indonesia and does not evaluate the effectiveness of specific interventions to address child labour. The study provides no quantitative data on outcomes or comparison with other regions or industries.
Abstract
In Indonesia there now exist a lot of children who are forced work before their legal age allows so. With the number increasing, these children are mainly employed in the informal sector, which is not well-organized. It is estimated that there are some 2 to 4 million 14 – year-old children who are forced and moral condition. Child labour is almost always associated with poverty that widely prevails. Social welfare system devised by the government has not yet fully met the existing challenges. Protection towards children, which constitutes an important element of social welfare, is actually ensured by both the national and international labour law. The United Nations Organizations dealing with labour is the International Labour Organization, which-since its birt-has aimed to solve child labour problems. The problems identified are as follows, how is the legal protection towards children who forced to work, what is the employer’s responsibility towards child labour to ensure their work safety and health, and how is the supervition and control condacted by Office of Manpower and Transmigration towards child labour in the attempt to improve their safety and health. Legal protection provided by the government and employer towards children working at the Cibaduyut-based shoe-making industry is lacking, and children’s parents or poroxiest can not do anything to ensure that the children’s rights are fulfilled. The provision of working hours and wages does not conform to the existing labour law. The provision of working hours and wages does not conform to the existing labour law. As far as work break is concerned, some employers grand it to the child labour, while some others don’t. While the child labour are at work, the labour law states that day should be supervised by their parents or proxies, but in reality they are only watched by the employer. Supervision and control from the Office of Manpower and Transmigration towards child is apparently inadequate.