Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (Act No. 75 of 1997)Sectoral DeterminationsSectoral Determination 7 : Domestic Worker Sector, South AfricaPart F : Prohibition of Child labour and forced labour23. Prohibition of Child labour and forced labour |
| (1) | No person may employ as a domestic worker a child— |
| (a) | who is under 15 years of age; or |
| (b) | who is under the minimum school leaving age in terms of any law, if this is 15 or older. |
| (2) | No person may employ a child in an employment— |
| (a) | that is inappropriate for a person of that age; |
| (b) | that places at risk the child's well being, education, physical or mental health, or spiritual, moral or social development. |
| (3) | An employer must maintain for three years a record of the name, date of birth and address of every domestic worker under the age of 18 years employed by them. |
| (4) | Subject to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, all forced labour is prohibited. Section 31(1) of the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act 84 of 1996), requires every parent to cause every learner for whom he or she is responsible to attend a school until the last school day of the year in which the learner reaches the age of 15 or the ninth grade, whichever is the first. This applies to children under 18 years of age. |
| (5) | No person may, for their own benefit or for the benefit of someone else cause, demand or impose forced labour in contravention of sub-clause (4). |
| (6) | A person who employs a child in contravention of sub-clause (1) and (2) or engages in any form of forced labour in contravention of sub-clauses (4) and (5) commits an offence in terms of sections 46 and 48 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act respectively, read with section 93 of that Act. |