Employers will also no longer be allowed to hire children and young persons to sell alcohol or get them involved in jobs related to gambling, lotteries, massage and reflexology services.
They are also not allowed to procure, or offer children or young persons for prostitution or employ them as social escorts and hostesses.
These are among several amendments to the Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act 1966 which was passed in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Previously, those who hired children below 15 years old faced a minimum one year jail term and a fine of between RM5,000 and RM50,000 but this has been raised to two years and a fine of RM10,000 to RM100,000. Repeat offenders stand to get a maximum of five years’ imprisonment, an increase from three years’ maximum jail term.
Tabling the bill, Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran said the amendments were aimed at further protecting the nation’s young.
The amendments also define what is meant by hazardous work. It includes work related to the handling of machinery, exposing children to hazardous chemicals, dusty conditions, extreme temperature, noise and vibration.
However, a young person may be engaged in hazardous work with personal supervision if he or she is under apprenticeship or undergoing vocational training. The act defines “children” as those aged 15 and below while “young persons” are those from 15 to 18 years old.
During the debate on the bill, Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PAS-Rantau Panjang) urged the government to ensure businesses did not hire young children to work long hours and touched on measures to stop companies from underpaying young people.
Natrah Ismail (PH-Sekijang) said families from the lower income group might want their children to work even though they were supposed to be at school.
“Some children are willing to work day and night, disrupting their education. As of now, they are allowed to work in restaurants and cyber cafes but we need to look at their working hours. How to stop this?” she asked.
In winding up the debate, Kulasegaran said working children and young persons would be covered under the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and they would not be allowed to work from 8pm to 7am.