Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act 1920

1 Restrictions on the employment of women, young persons, and children in industrial undertakings. U.K.

(1) No child shall be employed in any industrial undertaking.

F1 [(2) [ No child shall be employed in any ship except to the extent to which and in the circumstances in which such employment is permitted under the Convention set out in Part IV. of the Schedule to this Act.]

(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F2

[F3 (4) Where persons under the age of sixteen years are employed in any industrial undertaking, a register of all persons under that age who are so employed, and of the dates of their birth, shall be kept and shall at all times be open to inspection.]

[F1 (5) There shall be included in every agreement with the crew entered into under the M1 Merchant Shipping Act 1894, a list of the young persons under the age of sixteen years who are members of the crew, together with particulars of the dates of their birth, and, in the case of a ship in which there is no such agreement, the master of the ship shall, if young persons under the age of sixteen years are employed therein, keep a register of those persons with particulars of the dates of their birth and of the dates on which they become or cease to be members of the crew, and the register so kept shall at all times be open to inspection.]

(6) This section, so far as it relates to employment in [F4 mines and quarries within the meaning of the M2 Mines and Quarries Act 1954], and factories and workshops, shall have effect as if it formed part of [F4 the M3 Mines and Quarries Act 1954], and [F5 the M4 Factories Act 1961], respectively, and the provisions of those Acts relating to registers to be kept thereunder shall apply to the registers required to be kept under this Act.

[F6 This section, so far as it relates to employment in a ship, shall have effect as if it formed part of the Merchant Shipping Acts 1894 to 1920.]

In the case of employment in any place other than the places aforesaid [F6 or in any ship]

[F7 (a) The following provisions, namely—

(i) sections 21(1) and (2) and 28(1) and (3) of the Children and Young Persons Act M5 1933,

(ii) sections 31(1) and (2) and 36(1) and (3) of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act M6 1937, or

(iii) sections 39(1) and (3) to (5) and 45(1), (3) and (4) of the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) M7 1968,

shall have effect in relation to the employment of a child in an industrial undertaking in contravention of this Act as they have effect in relation to the employment of a child in contravention of Part II of that Act of 1933, of Part III of that Act of 1937 or of Part III of that Act of 1968, as the case may be; and]

[(b) If any child is employed in any ship in contravention of this Act, the master of the ship shall be liable for each offence to a fine not exceeding [F8 £2][F9 £25], or, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, not exceeding five pounds, and where a child is atken into employment in any ship in contravention of this Act on the production, by or with the privy of the parent, on a false or forged certificate or on the false representation of his parent that the child is of an age at which such employment is not in contravention of this Act, that parent shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F10 £25]; and]

(c) If any person being the employer of a [F11 person under the age of sixteen years] fails to keep such a register so required to be kept by him as aforesaid, or refuses or neglects when required to produce it for inspection by an officer of a local authority under the said Act, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds [F12 level 2 on the standard scale]; and

[(d) F13 If the master of a ship fails to keep such a register so required to be kept by him as aforesaid, or refuses or neglects when required to produce it for inspection by an officer of the Board of Trade or any other person having power to enforce compliance with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts 1894 to 1920, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds; and]

(e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F14

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 1(2)(5) repealed (prosp.) by Merchant Shipping Act 1970 (c. 36), s. 101(4), Sch. 5 (with Sch. 4)

F2 S. 1(3) repealed by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), ss. 10(1)(a), 29(4), Sch. 7 Pt. III

F3 S. 1(4) substituted by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 10(2), Sch. 3 Pt. III para. 1

F4 Words substituted by virtue of Mines and Quarries Act 1954 (c. 70), Sch. 4

F5 Words substituted by virtue of Factories Act 1961 (c. 34), Sch. 6 para. 1

F6 Words repealed (prosp.) by Merchant Shipping Act 1970 (c. 36), s. 104(4), Sch. 5 (with Sch. 4)

F7 S. 1(6)(a) substituted by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 29(3), Sch. 6 para. 1(a)

F8 “£2” substituted by virtue of Decimal Currency Act 1969 (c. 19), s. 10(1)

F9 “£25” substituted for £2 (E.W) by virtue of Criminal Law Act 1977 (c. 45), s. 31(5)(a)(6)(a)(9)

F10 Words substituted by virtue of Mines and Quarries Act 1954 (c. 70), Sch. 4

F11 Words substituted by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 29(3), Sch. 6 para. 1(b)

F12 Words substituted by virtue of (E.W.) Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), s. 46, and (S.) Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21, SIF 39:1), s. 289G and (N.I.) by S.I. 1984/703 (N.I. 3) arts. 5, 6

F13 S. 1(6)(b)(d) repealed (prosp.) by Merchant Shipping Act 1970 (c. 36), s. 104(4), Sch. 5 (with Sch. 4)

F14 S.I(6)(e) repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 (c. 45), Sch. 1 Pt. VIII

Marginal Citations

M1 1894 c. 60

M2 1954 c. 70.

M3 1954 c. 70.

M4 1961 c. 34.

M5 1933 c.12 (20).

M6 1937 c.37 (20).

M7 1968 c.34 (N.I.).

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F15 U.K.

Textual Amendments

F15 S. 2 Repealed (E.W.)(S.) by Employment of Women and Young Persons Act 1936 (c. 24), s. 5(3)(4)

3 Savings. U.K.

(1) The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any of the provisions of any other Act restricting the employment of . . . F16 , . . . F17 children.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall apply to an industrial undertaking or ship in which only members of the same family are employed.

(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F18

Textual Amendments

F16 Words repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 (c. 45), Sch. 1 Pt. VIII

F17 Words repealed by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 29(4), Sch. 7 Pt. III

F18 Ss. 3(3), 5(2) repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1927 (c. 42)

4 Interpretation. U.K.

In this Act—

• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F19

• The expression “young person” means a person who has ceased to be a child and who is under the age of eighteen years;

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F20

• The expression “industrial undertaking” has [F21 the meaning assigned to it by Part I], . . . F22 of the Schedule to this Act;

• The expression “ship” means any sea-going ship or boat of any description which is registered in the United Kingdom as a British ship and includes any British fishing boat entered in the fishing boat register.

Textual Amendments

F19 Definition repealed by (E.W.) Education Act 1944 (c. 31), Sch. 9 Pt. I and (S.) Education (Scotland) Act 1945 (c. 37), Sch. 6

F20 Definition repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 (c. 45), Sch. 1 Pt. VIII

F21 Words substituted by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 29(3), Sch. 6 para. 2

F22 Words repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 (c. 45), Sch. 1 Pt. VIII

5 †Short title and commencement. U.K.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act 1920.

(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F23

Textual Amendments

F23 Ss. 3(3), 5(2) repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1927 (c. 42)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Unreliable marginal note