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Ratification of International Labour Organisation Convention on Minimum Age for Admission to Employment 
Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 12:00 AM

Singapore has ratified the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 138 on Minimum Age for employment. This was announced by the ILO at the current ILO Governing Body Session being held in Geneva from 3-18 November 2005.

2 Convention 138 is one of the 8 ILO core Conventions. The aim of this Convention is to set a minimum employment age for children and young persons. Child labour is not an issue in Singapore. Ratification of this Convention demonstrates Singapore’s firm commitment to the effective abolition of child labour.

3 In October 2004, the Employment Act was amended to raise the minimum working age for children and young persons from 14 to 15 in line with Convention 138.

4 With the ratification of Convention 138, Singapore has ratified 5 out of the 8 ILO core Conventions.

5 In addition to the 5 core Conventions, Singapore has also ratified 16 other ILO Conventions governing employment standards and workers’ well-being.