Why is this important?

By simply prohibiting it, child labour is not abolished. Indeed, the situation can go from bad to worse because children often tend to then shift into other work, work that is potentially more precarious/hazardous. A company committed to ending child labour better serves its commitment through activities seeking to prevent child labour or remediate any identified cases, or preferably, both.

About the scoring

A score of 10 is given if the company publicly describes an initiative with the purpose of preventing or addressing the issue of child labour (within own operations or those of suppliers), e.g. through:

• Age-checks
• Remediation programmes
• Apprenticeship programmes for under 18’s
• Training programmes for employees or suppliers

Such programmes or initiatives can be in collaboration with e.g.:

• NGOs
• Industry peers
• Government authorities

Because child labour is a systemic issue, programmes of this type needn’t be entirely driven by a single company acting alone. The company’s own foundation/charity organisation (or an entity of this type administered with other companies in the same group) which runs programmes is also counted as their own programme. If, for example, scholarships to under 18s focused on preventing child labour through education are directly administered by the company/foundation, it counts as the company’s own individual program. In cases where the company/foundation donates to charity for the same purpose, it is considered under Indicator 4.1.1.

A score of 5 is given if it is clear from public disclosures that the company is working actively to prevent or remedy labour rights violations such as trafficking, modern slavery or forced labour, but child labour is not a specific focus.

N.B. If the programme consists solely of donations to an NGO/charity, it doesn’t qualify here, but will be given a full score under Indicator 1.3.1 Collaboration.

Indicator reference

Children’s Rights and Business Principles:

• All business should contribute to the elimination of child labour, including in all business activities and business relationships (Principle 2)
• All business should reinforce community and government efforts to protect and fulfil children’s rights (Principle 10)