| C138, Minimum Age Convention, 1973 | |
| Long Name: | Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment |
| Date Drafted: | 26 June 1973 |
| Date Effective: | 19 June 1976 |
| Condition Effective: | 2 ratifications |
| Ratifiers: | 176 |
| Depositor: | Director-General of the International Labour Office |
| Languages: | French and English |
The ILO Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment C138,[1] is a convention adopted in 1973 by the International Labour Organization. It requires ratifying states to pursue a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment or work. It is one of eight ILO fundamental conventions. Convention C138 replaces several similar ILO conventions in specific fields of labour.
Countries are free to specify a minimum age for labour, with a minimum of 15 years. A declaration of 14 years is also possible when for a specified period of time. Laws may also permit light work for children aged 13–15 (not harming their health or school work). The minimum age of 18 years is specified for work which "is likely to jeopardise the health, safety or morals of young persons". Definitions of the type of work and derogations are only possible after tripartite consultations (if such a system exists in the ratifying country).
The convention is a revision of several conventions for workers in specific areas. Upon entry into force, some of these conventions were closed for ratification and becoming a party to this convention automatically resulted in denunciation of the older ones. An overview of older minimum age conventions of ILO is shown below:
| ILO code | Field | conclusion date | entry into force | closure for signature/withdrawal | Parties (January 2023) | Denunciations (January 2023) | Revising convention(s) | Text and ratifications references | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C5 | Industry | 28 November 1919 | 13 June 1921 | N.A. | 1 | 71 | C59, this convention | [2] [3] | |
| C7 | Sea | 7 July 1920 | 27 September 1921 | 19 June 2021[4] | 1 | 52 | C58, this convention, MLC | [5] | |
| C10 | Agriculture | 16 November 1921 | 31 August 1923 | N.A. | 4 | 51 | this convention | [6] [7] | |
| C15 | trimmers and stokers | 11 November 1921 | 20 November 1922 | N.A. | 7 | 62 | this convention | [8] [9] | |
| C33 | Non-Industrial Employment (revised) | 30 April 1932 | 6 June 1935 | 29 December 1950 | 2 | 23 | C60, this convention | [10] [11] | |
| C58 | Sea (revised) | 24 October 1936 | 11 April 1939 | N.A. | 6 | 45 | this convention, MLC | [12] [13] | |
| C59 | Industry (revised) | 22 June 1937 | 21 February 1941 | 19 June 1976 | 8 | 28 | this convention | [14] [15] | |
| C60 | Non-Industrial Employment | 22 June 1937 | 29 December 1950 | N.A. | 0 | 11 | this convention | [16] [17] | |
| C112 | Fishermen | 19 June 1959 | 7 November 1961 | N.A. | 2 | 27 | this convention, Work in Fishing Convention | [18] [19] | |
| C123 | Underground Work | 22 June 1965 | 10 November 1967 | N.A. | 21 | 20 | this convention | [20] [21] |
ILO Convention C138 entered into force one year after deposition of the first two ratifications (Cuba and Libya). As of July 2023 176 countries have ratified Convention C138. Initially, however, the pace of ratification of this convention was extremely slow. Therefore, an alternative Convention with a more limited scope was initiated in 1999.[22] It concerns ILO Convention 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
Convention C138 enters into force for a ratifying country one year after ratification. This can be denounced every 10 years in the year after 10 years have passed (e.g. –).