Young people under the age of 14 will soon no longer be able to work in Quebec, with some exceptions. Bill 19 was adopted unanimously on Thursday afternoon, in time for the summer period.
It sets 14 as the minimum age for working in Quebec, and prohibits young people aged 14 to 16 from working more than 17 hours a week during the school year, except on holidays.
The Minister of Labour, Jean Boulet, congratulated himself in an interview with The Canadian Press on the smooth progress of the work, thanks to the consensus, he said, which quickly emerged in the National Assembly.
” I’m very happy, […] this is a significant step forward, he said in a telephone interview. We met our two objectives of ensuring health and safety […] children and enable their school perseverance and educational success. »
It should be noted that Bill 19, which was submitted for public consultation and scrutinized by parliamentarians, has not undergone any major changes. It was therefore adopted almost in its original form.
Exceptions…
The law will come into force in two stages. First, upon assent to the bill, an employer who employs a young person under the age of 14 will have a maximum of 30 days to send him a notice of termination of employment.
This notice is one week if the child has three months to one year of continuous service, two weeks if he has one to two years of continuous service and three weeks if he has more than two years of continuous service.
Note that there are eight exceptions. Thus, a young person under the age of 14 can continue to work as:
- creator / performer in artistic production;
- newspaper deliverer ;
- babysitter;
- tutor/homework help;
- worker in the family business if it has less than 10 employees;
- assistant animator in a day camp / social or community organization;
- marker in a non-profit sports organization;
- if he is 12 years of age or over, worker in an agricultural business with fewer than 10 employees to take care of animals, prepare or maintain the soil or harvest fruits or vegetables, in the case of light manual work.
… but not all those requested
By adding this last exception (the only amendment to the bill), the minister agrees with the arguments of small agricultural producers, but not with those of the restaurant and retail sectors.
They demanded much more flexibility on the part of the government, in particular so that it allows young people under 14 to obtain piecemeal exemptions or to be kept in employment until the end of the summer.
“The labor shortage is not based on hiring children,” says Mr. Boulet. I resisted, because I didn’t want to harm the two objectives, and in these sectors there are many work accidents that have been documented. »
“We cannot expose children to the risk of work accidents,” he added.
The other part of the law, which will come into force on 1er September, concerns young people between the ages of 14 and 16, whose working hours will be limited to 17 per week (including weekends) during the school year, excluding holidays.
From Monday to Friday, it will be a maximum of 10 hours.
“This new law will ensure that they devote themselves first and foremost to their first job: to be a student,” argues Jean Boulet.
Bill 19, which incorporates the recommendations of the Labor and Manpower Advisory Committee, a group of union and employer associations, was tabled on March 28.
It provides for hefty fines for offending employers: $1,200 for a first offense and $12,000 for a repeat offense.