The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to amend the Dangerous Employment Order under the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act.
The Cabinet proposal was tabled by Minister of Labour Nimal Siripala de Silva.
The minimum age requirement for child labour has been increased to 16 years since January 2021.
The Labour Minister issued a dangerous jobs order based on amendments made accordingly.
51 hazardous jobs have been introduced for youth between 16 to 18 years, while employing them for the relevant jobs is a punishable offence.
The order has been further reviewed to include 20 timely hazardous jobs including domestic service, beauty culture and jobs related to computers and electronics and accordingly the total number of hazardous jobs increases to 71.
