An Act to carry out certain Conventions relating to the employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children, and to amend the law with respect to the employment of Women and Young Persons in Factories and Workshops.
[23rd December 1920]
Whereas at Washington, on the twenty-eighth day of November, nineteen hundred and nineteen, a general conference of the International Labour Organisation of the League of Nations adopted three conventions containing (together with other provisions) the provisions set out in Part I., Part II . . .F1 of the Schedule to this Act:
And whereas at Genoa on the ninth day of July, nineteen hundred and twenty, a general conference of the International Labour Organisation of the League of Nations adopted a convention containing (together with other provisions) the provisions set out in Part IV. of the Schedule to this Act:
And whereas it is expedient that for the purpose of carrying out the said conventions the provisions hereinafter contained should have effect:
And whereas it is expedient to make further provision as to the conditions under which . . .F1 young persons may be employed in factories and workshops:
Textual Amendments
F1Words repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 (c. 45), Sch. 1 Pt. VIII
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1Act amended by (E.W.) Education Act 1944 (c. 31), s. 58 and (S.) Education (Scotland) Act 1962 (c. 47), s. 139(1)
C2This Act is not necessarily in the form in which it has effect in Northern Ireland
C3Act amended by S.I. 1988/1222, regs. 3, 4
C4Act amended by S.I. 1990/1380, reg. 3
C5Act: saved by virtue of Health and Saftety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37, SIF 43:3), s. 53, Sch. 1 and Tay Road Bridge Order Confirmation Act 1991 (c. iv), Sch. Pt. VII s. 62
C6Act: saved by virtue of Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37, SIF 43:3), s. 53, Sch. 1 and Highland Regional Council (Harbours) Order Confirmation Act 1991 (c. xii), s. 61(1)(f)
Commencement Information
I1Act wholly in force at 1.1.1921
(1)No child shall be employed in any industrial undertaking.
F2(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F3
[F4(4)Where persons under the age of sixteen years are employed in any industrial undertaking, a register of all persons under that age who are so employed, and of the dates of their birth, shall be kept and shall at all times be open to inspection.]
F2(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(6)This section, so far as it relates to employment in [F5mines and quarries within the meaning of the M1Mines and Quarries Act 1954], and factories and workshops, shall have effect as if it formed part of [F5the M2Mines and Quarries Act 1954], and [F6the M3Factories Act 1961], respectively, and the provisions of those Acts relating to registers to be kept thereunder shall apply to the registers required to be kept under this Act.
F7. . ..
In the case of employment in any place other than the places aforesaid F7. . .
[F8(a)The following provisions, namely—
(i)sections 21(1) and (2) and 28(1) and (3) of the Children and Young Persons Act M41933,
(ii)sections 31(1) and (2) and 36(1) and (3) of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act M51937, or
(iii)sections 39(1) and (3) to (5) and 45(1), (3) and (4) of the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) M61968,
shall have effect in relation to the employment of a child in an industrial undertaking in contravention of this Act as they have effect in relation to the employment of a child in contravention of Part II of that Act of 1933, of Part III of that Act of 1937 or of Part III of that Act of 1968, as the case may be; and]
F9(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(c)If any person being the employer of a [F10person under the age of sixteen years] fails to keep such a register so required to be kept by him as aforesaid, or refuses or neglects when required to produce it for inspection by an officer of a local authority under the said Act, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds [F11level 2 on the standard scale]; and
F9(d). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(e). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F12
Textual Amendments
F2S. 1(2)(5) repealed (1.5.1995) by Merchant Shipping Act 1970 (c. 36), s. 100(3), Sch. 5 (with Sch. 4); S.I. 1995/965, art. 2, Sch. and subject to an amendment to s. 1(2) (prosp.) by 1998 c. 31, ss. 112(2), 145(3) (with ss. 138(9), 144(6))
F4S. 1(4) substituted by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 10(2), Sch. 3 Pt. III para. 1
F5Words substituted by virtue of Mines and Quarries Act 1954 (c. 70), Sch. 4
F6Words substituted by virtue of Factories Act 1961 (c. 34), Sch. 6 para. 1
F7Words repealed (1.5.1995) by Merchant Shipping Act 1970 (c. 36), s. 100(3), Sch. 5 (with Sch. 4); S.I. 1995/965, art. 2, Sch.
F8S. 1(6)(a) substituted by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 29(3), Sch. 6 para. 1(a)
F9S. 1(6)(b)(d) repealed (1.5.1995) by Merchant Shipping Act 1970 (c. 36), s. 100(3), Sch. 5 (with Sch. 4); S.I. 1995/965, art. 2, Sch.
F10Words substituted by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 29(3), Sch. 6 para. 1(b)
F11Words substituted by virtue of (E.W.) Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), s. 46, and (S.) Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21, SIF 39:1), s. 289G and (N.I.) by S.I. 1984/703 (N.I. 3) arts. 5, 6
Marginal Citations
Textual Amendments
F13S. 2 Repealed (E.W.)(S.) by Employment of Women and Young Persons Act 1936 (c. 24), s. 5(3)(4)
(1)The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any of the provisions of any other Act restricting the employment of . . . F14, . . . F15 children.
(2)Nothing in this Act shall apply to an industrial undertaking or ship in which only members of the same family are employed.
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F16
Textual Amendments
F14Words repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 (c. 45), Sch. 1 Pt. VIII
F15Words repealed by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 29(4), Sch. 7 Pt. III
F16Ss. 3(3), 5(2) repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1927 (c. 42)
In this Act—
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F17
The expression “young person” means a person who has ceased to be a child and who is under the age of eighteen years;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F18
The expression “industrial undertaking” has [F19the meaning assigned to it by Part I], . . . F20 of the Schedule to this Act;
The expression “ship” means any sea-going ship or boat of any description which is registered in the United Kingdom as a British ship and includes any British fishing boat entered in the fishing boat register.
Textual Amendments
F17Definition repealed by (E.W.) Education Act 1944 (c. 31), Sch. 9 Pt. I and (S.) Education (Scotland) Act 1945 (c. 37), Sch. 6
F18Definition repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 (c. 45), Sch. 1 Pt. VIII
F19Words substituted by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 29(3), Sch. 6 para. 2
F20Words repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 (c. 45), Sch. 1 Pt. VIII
(1)This Act may be cited as the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act 1920.
(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F21
Textual Amendments
F21Ss. 3(3), 5(2) repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1927 (c. 42)
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C7Unreliable marginal note
Sections 1 and 4.
For the purpose of this Convention, the term “industrial undertaking” includes particularly:—
(a) Mines, quarries and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth.
(b) Industries in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed; including shipbuilding, and the generation, transformation, and transmission of electricity and motive power of any kind.
(c) Construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration, or demolition of any building, railway, tramway, harbour, dock, pier, canal, inland waterway, road, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, sewer, drain, well, telegraphic or telephonic installation, electrical undertaking, gaswork, waterwork, or other work of construction, as well as the preparation for or laying the foundations of any such work or structure.
(d) Transport of passengers or goods by road or rail or inland waterway, including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves, and warehouses, but excluding transport by hand.
The competent authority in each country shall define the line of division which separates industry from commerce and agriculture.
Children under the age of fourteen years shall not be employed or work in any public or private industrial undertaking, or in any branch thereof, other than an undertaking in which only members of the same family are employed.
The provisions of Article 2 shall not apply to work done by children in technical schools, provided that such work is approved and supervised by public authority.
In order to facilitate the enforcement of the provisions of this Convention, every employer in an industrial undertaking shall be required to keep a register of all persons under the age of sixteen years employed by him, and of the dates of their births.
Textual Amendments
Textual Amendments
Textual Amendments
F24Part IV repealed (prosp.) by Merchant Shipping act 1970 (c. 36), s. 101(4), Sch. 5
For the purpose of this Convention, the term “vessel” includes all ships and boats, of any nature whatsoever, engaged in maritime navigation, whether publicly or privately owned: it excludes ships of war.
Children under the age of fourteen years shall not be employed or work on vessels other than vessels upon which only members of the same family are employed.
The provisions of Article 2 shall not apply to work done by children on school ships or training ships, provided that such work is approved and supervised by public authority.
In order to facilitate the enforcement of the provisions of this Convention, every shipmaster shall be required to keep a register of all persons under the age of sixteen years employed on board his vessel, or a list of them in the articles of agreement, and of the dates of their births.]