Employment Act · 2026 Revised Edition · Part · Employment of Children and Young Persons
103. Restriction on employment of children
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
No person shall employ a child in an industrial undertaking or in an undertaking which is not an industrial undertaking, except as provided for in subsection (3).
(Deleted).
A child who has attained the age of 14 years may be employed in light work suited to his capacity in an undertaking which is not in industrial undertaking.
industrial undertaking
“industrial undertaking” means — (a) mines, quarries and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; (b) industries in which articles are manufactured, assembled, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed, including ship-building and the generation, transformation and transmission of electricity and motive power of any kind; (c) the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration or demolition of any building, railway, tramway, harbour, dock, pier, canal, inland waterway, road, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, sewer, drain, well, telegraphic or telephonic installation, electrical undertaking, gaswork, waterworks or other work of construction, as well as the preparation for or the laying of the foundation of any such work or structure; (d) the transport of passengers or goods by road, rail, sea, air or inland waterway, including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves, warehouses and airports, but excluding transport by hand: Provided that if, having regard to the nature of the work involved in any occupation which forms part of the industrial undertaking, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan considers that such occupation should be excluded from the provisions of this Act relating to industrial undertakings, he may declare by order published in the Gazette that employment in such occupation is deemed not to be employment in an industrial undertaking for the purposes of this Act: Provided further that any undertaking of which a part only is an industrial undertaking shall not for that reason alone be deemed to be an industrial undertaking;
For the purposes of subsection (3), a certificate of a medical practitioner shall be conclusive on the question of whether any work is suited to the capacity of any particular child.
medical practitioner
“medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act;
Terms defined in s 2
industrial undertaking
Defined · s 2“industrial undertaking” means — (a) mines, quarries and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; (b) industries in which articles are manufactured, assembled, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed, including ship-building and the generation, transformation and transmission of electricity and motive power of any kind; (c) the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration or demolition of any building, railway, tramway, harbour, dock, pier, canal, inland waterway, road, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, sewer, drain, well, telegraphic or telephonic installation, electrical undertaking, gaswork, waterworks or other work of construction, as well as the preparation for or the laying of the foundation of any such work or structure; (d) the transport of passengers or goods by road, rail, sea, air or inland waterway, including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves, warehouses and airports, but excluding transport by hand: Provided that if, having regard to the nature of the work involved in any occupation which forms part of the industrial undertaking, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan considers that such occupation should be excluded from the provisions of this Act relating to industrial undertakings, he may declare by order published in the Gazette that employment in such occupation is deemed not to be employment in an industrial undertaking for the purposes of this Act: Provided further that any undertaking of which a part only is an industrial undertaking shall not for that reason alone be deemed to be an industrial undertaking;
medical practitioner
Defined · s 2“medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act;
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