*CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS (EMPLOYMENT) ACT 1966

This Act shall apply only to the States of *Peninsular

Malaysia.

Interpretation 1a. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“agricultural undertaking” means any work in which any person is employed under a contract of service for the purposes of agriculture or horticulture, the tending of domestic animals and poultry or the collection of the produce of any plants or trees, but does not include any work performed in a forest;

*NOTE—All references to “West Malaysia” shall be construed as reference to “Peninsular

Malaysia”–see the Interpretation (Amendment) Act 1997 [Act A996] subsection 5(2).

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“child” means a person under the age of fifteen years;

“contract of service” means any agreement, whether oral or in writing and whether express or implied, whereby a person agrees in accordance with the provisions of this Act to employ a child or young person and that child or young person agrees to serve him and includes an apprenticeship contract;

“employ” and “employment” mean employment in any labour for the purposes of gain, whether the gain be to a child, young person or to any other person;

“employer” means any person who has entered into a contract of service to employ any child or young person and includes the agent, manager or factor of such first-mentioned person;

“entertainment” includes any exhibition or performance; and a person is deemed to take part in an entertainment when such person is employed in or connected with such entertainment whether as a performer, stage-hand or musician;

“family” means a parent, sibling or guardian who has custody, of a child or young person;

“guardian” in relation to child or young person, includes any person who, in the opinion of the court having cognizance of any case in relation to the child or young person or in which the child or young person is concerned, has for the time being the charge of or control over the child or young person;

“light work” means any work performed by a child or young person which is not likely—

Other expression have the same meanings as in the

Employment Act 1955 [Act 265] and the Weekly Holidays Act 1950 [Act 220].

EMPLOYMENT

Employment in which children and young persons may be engaged

No child or young person shall be, or be required or permitted to be, engaged in any hazardous work, or any employment other than those specified in this section.

*NOTE—The Education Act 1961 [Act 43 of 1961] has since been repealed by the Education Act 1996 [Act 550]–see section 155 of Act 550.

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Notwithstanding subsection (1a), a young person may be engaged in any hazardous work with personal supervision if he is—

A child may be engaged in any of the following employments:

The age of admission to light work as specified in paragraph (2)(a) shall not be less than thirteen years.

Notwithstanding subsections (2) and (3), no child or young person shall be, or be required or permitted to be, engaged in any employment specified in the Fifth Schedule.

A young person may be engaged in any of the following employments:

The Minister may, if he is satisfied that any employment (not mentioned in subsection (2) or subsection (3)) is not dangerous to life, limb, health, safety or morals, by order declare such employment to be an employment in which a child or young person may be, or permitted to be, engaged; and the Minister may in such order impose such conditions as he deems fit and he may at any time revoke or vary the order or may withdraw or alter such conditions.

No child or young person shall be, or be required or permitted to be, engaged in any employment contrary to the provisions of the Factories and Machinery Act 1967 [Act 139], the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 [Act 514] or the

Electricity Supply Act 1990 [Act 447].

(Deleted by Act A1586).

The Minister may prohibit any child or young person from engaging or being engaged in any employment

to work between the hours of 8 o’clock in the evening and 7 o’clock in the morning;

to work for more than three consecutive hours without a period of rest of at least thirty minutes;

to work for more than six hours in a day or, if the child is attending school, for a period which together with the time he spends attending school, exceeds seven hours;

or

to commence work on any day without having had a period of not less than fourteen consecutive hours free from work.

Paragraph (1)(a) shall not apply to any child engaged in employment in any public entertainment.

Hours of work of young persons

to work between the hours of 8 o’clock in the evening and 6 o’clock in the morning;

to work for more than four consecutive hours without a period of rest of at least thirty minutes;

Children and Young Persons (Employment)

to work for more than seven hours in any one day or, if the young person is attending school, for a period which together with the time he spends attending school, exceeds eight hours:

Provided that if the young person is an apprentice under paragraph 2(2)(d), the period of work in any one day shall not exceed eight hours; or

to commence work on any day without having had a period of not less than twelve consecutive hours free from work.

Paragraph (1)(a) shall not apply to any young person engaged in employment in an agricultural undertaking or any employment in a public entertainment or on any vessel under paragraph 2(3)(e).

PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT

Employment connected with public entertainment

No licence under subsection (1) shall be granted by the

Director General to any person where he is of the opinion that the employment is dangerous to the life, limb, health, safety or morals of the child or young person aforesaid.

The Director General may cancel any licence issued under this section on any ground for which he could refuse to issue a licence or on breach of any condition thereof, and such cancellation shall take effect forthwith until and unless set aside on appeal.

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Any child or young person or the parent or guardian of such child or young person or any other person aggrieved by the decision of the Director General aforesaid may within fourteen days of the making of that decision appeal to the Minister, and the decision of the Minister shall be final.

In the event of an appeal, the child or young person or the parent or guardian of such child or young person shall be entitled to be supplied by the Director General the reasons in writing for the cancellation of or refusal to issue a licence or for the imposition of conditions on a licence.

in the case of a body corporate, any person who is a director, manager, or other similar officer of the body corporate at the time of the commission of the offence;

in the case of a partnership, every partner in the partnership at the time of the commission of the offence; and

in the case of a society or trade union, every office-bearer of the society or trade union at the time of the commission of the offence,

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shall be deemed to have committed the offence and may be charged jointly or severally in the same proceedings as the body corporate, partnership, society or trade union.

Jurisdiction

The Director General shall have the right to appear and be heard in any proceedings under this Act, and such right shall include the right to appear and represent a child or young person in any such proceedings.

Certificate of medical officer as to age

On the conviction of any person for an offence under subsection (1) the Director General shall, if the person convicted is the holder of a licence under the *Theatres and Places of

Public Amusement Enactment 1936 of the Federated Malay States

[F.M.S. 47 of 1936] or under any other corresponding written law in force, inform the licensing authority concerned of the particulars of such conviction and the licensing authority may take such action as it considers appropriate.

Regulations

In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the Minister may make regulations to prescribe—

The regulations contained in the Third Schedule shall have effect unless and until replaced or amended by regulations made under this section, and shall be deemed to be regulations made under this section.

Power to amend Schedules 15a. The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, amend the Schedules to this Act.

Application of certain provisions of the Employment Act 1955

and regulations made thereunder

a Director General;

a Magistrate; or

Children and Young Persons (Employment)

any person authorized in that behalf by the Director General of Health, the Director General of Labour or the Director General of Social

Welfare.

PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS

Medical examinations

the maximum number of performances to be given in any one day or week;

the maximum number of performances to be given consecutively;

the hours of the day between which a child or young person shall not take part in a public performance;

that no performance shall exceed four hours in duration;

that a child or young person shall not take part in any performance which is dangerous to life, limb, health or morals;

that a child or young person shall report in person or in writing to an Assistant State Director of Labour or a State Director of Labour when leaving the service of the present employer;

that a child or young person shall report to an Assistant State Director of Labour or a State Director of Labour in writing or in person when leaving the District or State and give the destination;

that a child or young person shall report arrival in any District to the nearest Labour Office in writing or in person; and

any other conditions or remarks.

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Penalty

Any machine tools or production machine which can pose high risk such as drilling machines, grinding machines, cutting machines, lathes machines, scraping machines, power press machine, knitting machines, weaving machines, packaging machines and bottling machines;

Steam boiler or internal combustion engine such as diesel engines, turbines and engines for generating electricity;

Hoisting and loading machine such as lift, hoist, crane, escalators, conveyor belts, gondolas and forklift; or

High pressure vessels.

Underground work, underwater or in a confined space such as a well or a tunnel;

Working at height which can lead to serious bodily injury;

Working environment which involves electricity at high voltage power line;

Working in a caisson with limited ventilation;

Work that uses electric welding machines or gas welding machines;

Work in an environment with extreme temperature and moisture or high-speed wind;

Work in an environment with noise or vibration where intensity exceeds the permissible exposure limits;

Work to handle, store, use and transport radioactive substances;

Work that produces ionizing radiation or work in an environment with ionizing radiation;

Work in a dusty environment that is detrimental to health;

Work which may lead to electrocution, fire or explosion; or

Manual handling works which may pose high risk such as lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving a load.

Work in relation to production, processing, handling, storage, transport, removal, disposal or treatment of hazardous chemical as defined in the Occupational Safety and Health (Classification, Labelling and Safety Data Sheet of Hazardous Chemicals) Regulations 2013

[P.U. (A) 310/2013]; or

Work in relation to production, processing, handling, storage, transport, removal, disposal or treatment of pesticides and schedule waste as defined in the Pesticides Act 1974 [Act 149] and the Environmental

Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005 [P.U. (A) 294/2005].