33. According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the right to work implies “the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts” and that the state “will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right,” which include technical and vocational guidance and training programs, policies, and techniques to achieve steady economic, social and cultural development and full and productive employment under conditions safeguarding fundamental political and economic freedoms to the individual.”90 In recognizing the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favorable conditions of work, the state must ensure fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction of any kind, particularly for women, being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior to those enjoyed by men, with equal pay for equal work; safe and healthy working conditions; equal opportunity for everyone to be promoted in his employment to an appropriate higher level; and rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays.91 34. In terms of protection for children, both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Labour Standards recognize child labor as a violation of fundamental human rights and have established clear safeguards, one of which is by imposing a minimum age or ages for admission to employment.92 The International Labour Standards has set the general minimum age for admission to employment or work at 15 years (13 for light work) and the minimum age for hazardous work at 18 (16 under certain strict conditions).93 35. In the Philippines, the 1987 Philippine Constitution ensures protection of the right to work, which encompasses full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, full employment, equality of employment opportunities, rights to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities, shared responsibility between workers and employers and just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns on investments, and expansion and growth.94 The Labor Code, in particular, elaborates the provisions for employment practices and labor relations in the country, including establishing a “national apprenticeship program through the participation of employers, workers, government and non-government agencies to help meet the demand of the economy for trained manpower.”95 It defines apprenticeship as a “practical training on the job supplemented by related theoretical instruction,” and an apprentice as “a worker who is covered by a written apprenticeship agreement with an individual employer,” at least 14 years of age, and possesses vocational aptitude and capacity for appropriate tests and the ability to comprehend 90 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted Dec. 16, 1966. Id. 92 Conventions on the Rights of a Child, supra note 1 and International Labour Organization, Rules of the Game: An Introduction TO the standards-related work of the International Labour Organization, (2019). 93 International Labour Organization, Rules of the Game: An Introduction to the standards-related work of the International Labour Organization, at 42, (2019). 94 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, available at https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/constitutions/1987-constitution/ (last accessed June 18, 2022). 95 A Decree Instituting a Labor Code Thereby Revising and Consolidating Labor and Social Laws to Afford Protection to Labor, Promote Employment and Human Resources Development and Insure Industrial Peace Based on Social Justice [LABOR CODE], bk. 2, art. 57. 91 23