By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: The Public Authority of Manpower (PAM) announced, on Tuesday, that juvenile work permits must include the age, type, and timing of the work they will be doing, while work should not exceed six hours per day. The authority set conditions for applying for juveniles' permits, saying that the juvenile should not be working for more than four consecutive hours.

A juvenile can work for four hours, after that they must take a rest period of no less than an hour before resuming work during the day. The authority prohibited the employment of juveniles for extra hours or working on weekends and holidays, in addition to prohibiting employers from making juveniles work between 7:00 pm and 6:00 am.

Last month, PAM announced as part of the 'Towards a Safe Childhood' campaign that business owners who employ juveniles between the ages of 15 and 18 will be obliged to issue a work permit for them. The issued permit is required to include the following data: The name of the juvenile, the name of the guardian, place of residence, age, medical certificate, and the type of work.

It is prohibited to employ juveniles of both sexes in all types of construction work, work with radiation exposure, oil and natural gas industry, petroleum and petrochemical factories, trade factories, organic fertilizer industry, slaughterhouses, and painting work.

It is also prohibited for them to work on any type of machines or their maintenance, and all work that requires the handling or use of lead, benzene, arsenic, phosphorous, or one of the substances listed in the table of occupational diseases, as well as cement factories, welding works, electricity, blacksmithing, and works that require carrying or pushing weights.

If an employer fails to issue work permits to workers in this category, and if any worker is caught violating the law, PAM inspectors will issue a notification requesting that the violation be avoided and visit the facility again to ensure compliance.

Violators will be punished with the penalties stipulated in Article 97 of the Labor Law, which states that if the employer does not remedy the violation within the specified period, he will be punished with a fine of no less than KD 100 and not more than 200 for each worker. The penalty will be doubled if the violation is repeated within a period of three years.

This decision aims to protect the rights of juvenile workers and provide their necessary needs to complete their assigned work in an appropriate working environment. It is noteworthy that a 'juvenile' is defined according to Kuwaiti law as every person under the age of 18 years.