COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s government has proposed a tenfold increase in the maximum fine for employing children, as part of legislative amendments aimed at strengthening protections against child labour and workplace exploitation.
The proposed amendments to the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act, submitted by Minister of Labour Anil Jayantha Fernando, have been presented to Parliament and published in the Government Gazette.
Under the draft legislation, any person convicted of employing a child in a public or private industrial establishment would face a maximum fine of Rs 100,000, up from the current Rs 10,000.
The amendments also propose that anyone found guilty of employing a person under the age of 18 in violation of the law could be fined up to R. 100,000, sentenced to up to 12 months’ imprisonment, or both.
The bill gives courts the discretion to impose both a fine and a prison sentence where warranted by the circumstances of the offence.
The government said the proposed amendments are intended to strengthen enforcement against child labour, increase the deterrent effect of existing penalties and enhance legal protections for children vulnerable to workplace exploitation.
-ENCL
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