(1) No child shall-
(a) be employed or work in any capacity except where he is employed by a member of his family on light work of an agricultural, horticultural or domestic character approved by the Minister; or
(b) be required in any case to lift, carry or move anything so heavy as to be likely to injure his physical development.
(2) No young person under the age of fifteen years shall be employed or work in any industrial undertaking:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply to work done by young persons in technical schools or similar institutions if the work is approved and supervised by the Ministry of Education (or corresponding department of government) of a State.
(3) A young person under the age of fourteen years may be employed only-
(a) on a daily wage;
(b) on a day-to-day basis; and
(c) so long as he returns each night to the place of residence of his parents or guardian or a person approved by his parents or guardian:
Provided that, save as may be otherwise provided by any regulations made under section 65 of this Act, this subsection shall not apply to a young person employed in domestic service.
(4) No young person under the age of sixteen years shall be employed in circumstances in which it is not reasonably possible for him to return each day to the place of residence of his parent or guardian except-
(a) with the approval of an authorized labour officer; and
(b) on a written contract (which, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, shall not be voidable on the ground of incapacity to contract due to infancy) conforming with Part I of this Act:
Provided that, save as may be otherwise provided by any regulations made under section 65 of this Act, this subsection shall not apply to a young person employed in domestic service.
(5) No young person under the age of sixteen years shall be employed-
(a) to work underground; or
(b) on machine work; or
(c) on a public holiday.
(6) No young person shall be employed in any employment which is injurious to his health, dangerous or immoral; and, where an employer is notified in writing by the Minister (either generally or in any particular case) that the kind of work upon which a young person is employed is injurious to the young person's health, dangerous, immoral or otherwise unsuitable, the employer shall discontinue the employment, without prejudice to the right of the young person to be paid such wages as he may have earned up to the date of discontinuance.
(7) No person shall continue to employ any young person under the age of sixteen years after receiving notice either orally or in writing from the parent or guardian of the young person that the young person is employed against the wishes of the parent or guardian:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply to a young person employed under a written contract entered into with the approval of an authorized labour officer.
(8) No young person under the age of sixteen years shall be required to work for a longer period than four consecutive hours or permitted to work for more than eight working hours in any one day:
Provided that, save as may be otherwise provided by any regulations made under section 65 of this Act, this subsection shall not apply to a young person employed in domestic service.
Section 59 of the Labour Act in Nigeria
Act structure