D. PROTECTION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
(PART III)
1. Protection
against labour
exploitation
Protection against
forced and
compulsory labour
and child labour
60. Article 11 of the Convention requires States parties to take effective measures against
all forms of forced or compulsory labour by migrant workers.27 This includes debt bondage,
passport retention, and illegal confinement, for example. Article 21 obliges States parties to
ensure that employers and recruiters do not confiscate or destroy travel or identity
documents belonging to migrant workers.28 States parties should provide training to law
enforcement officers, and ensure that occupations dominated by migrant workers, especially
women migrant workers, such as domestic work29 and some forms of entertainment, are
protected by labour laws and subject to inspections. 30
61. Article 25, paragraph 1 (b), of the Convention provides that laws and regulations on
the minimum age of employment shall equally apply to migrant children. The minimum
age shall not be less than 15 years, in accordance with article 2 of ILO Convention No. 138
(1973) concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment. Furthermore, in
accordance with article 11 of the Convention, States parties are obliged to ensure that child
migrant workers shall be protected from any form of slavery, prostitution or work that
would jeopardize their education, safety, morals and health, such as long hours of work.31
States parties must protect child migrant workers from violence and ensure their rights to
education, leisure and occupational health.
Equal treatment
62. Article 25, paragraph 1, provides for migrant workers, irrespective of their status, to
enjoy equal treatment to that of nationals in respect of remuneration, other conditions of
work and terms of employment.32 While States parties may refuse migrant workers who do
not have work permits access to their labour markets, once an employment relationship has
been initiated and until it is terminated, all migrant workers, including those in an irregular
situation, are entitled to equal conditions of work and terms of employment. The conditions
of work and terms of employment listed in article 25, paragraph 1(a) and (b), are nonexhaustive examples. The equal treatment principle also covers any other matter that,
according to national law and practice, is considered a working condition or term of
employment, such as maternity protection.
63. States parties should require employers to explicitly state in contracts that are free, fair
and fully consented to, the terms of employment for migrant workers, including those in an
irregular situation, in a language they understand, outlining their specific duties, hours of
work, remuneration, days of rest and other conditions of work.33 They should take effective
measures against non-payment of wages, delay in payment until departure, transfer of
wages into accounts that are inaccessible to migrant workers, or payment of lower wages to
migrant workers, especially those in an irregular situation, than to nationals. States parties
should also step up inspections of places where migrant workers are routinely employed
and instruct labour inspectorates not to share data concerning the migration status of
migrant workers with immigration authorities,34 as their primary duty is to secure the
70
27
ILO Convention No. 29 (see Note 8 above).
28
See Committee’s general comment No. 1 (2011) on migrant domestic workers, para. 39.
29
ILO Convention No. 189 (2011) concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers.
30
See Committee’s general comment No. 1 (2011) on migrant domestic workers, para. 41.
31
ILO Convention No. 182 (see Note 8 above).
32
ILO Convention No. 111 (1958) concerning Discrimination (Employment and Occupation).
33
See Committee’s general comment No. 1 (2011) on migrant domestic workers, paras. 38 and 40.
34
Ibid, paras. 41 and 49-50.