The 90,000 young people under the age of 14 who are currently working should be able to stay employed, estimates the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
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“We could smash 90,000 dreams!” Lamented CFIB vice-president for Quebec, François Vincent, on Tuesday. The latter was in front of the deputies as part of the parliamentary commission on the bill governing child labor.
This legislation piloted by Minister Jean Boulet provides that the minimum age for working be set at 14 years in Quebec as of now and that young people aged 16 and under cannot go to work for more than 17 hours a week during the year. school starting September 1.
Expressing concern about the well-being and development of young people, the representative of SMEs asks the Legault government to allow teenagers under the age of 14 who are already in the labor market to keep their jobs.
The new law “will oblige employers to dismiss young people under the age of 14 thirty days after the sanction, young people who are already in employment. This will represent nearly 90,000 young people who will be made redundant. We understand that there is a new limit that has been established, but the latter are already employed, already have their routine, have their friends at work, have their pocket money, ”argued François Vincent.
He adds that several teenagers have had a difficult time during the last years of the pandemic. “These thousands of young people who will be shown the door are the same ones who have not been able to practice their sport and see their friends for almost two years,” he insisted.
According to the vice-president of the CFIB, Quebec must provide an “exemption” for these teenagers who, in many cases, will have to stop working for a few months, even a few weeks, until their 14-year-old birthday. Some may find this situation difficult.
“[Imaginez] a young person whose party falls in September and all his friends are going to do summer work, but he will be caught playing Nintendo in the basement, ”illustrated Mr. Vincent.
Family businesses
CFIB is also asking the Minister of Labor to allow all owners and directors of family businesses, including those with more than ten employees, to employ their children.
A suggestion shared by the Conseil du patronat du Québec. The president, Karl Blackburn, points out that family businesses like small grocery stores or agricultural businesses often employ more than ten employees, but only at certain times of the year.