HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/
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Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment
The law prohibits children under the age of 16 from working, although those who are 14 or 15 years of age may work up to 30 hours per week with parental consent. Those under age 18 may not work at night, engage in arduous work, or work in hazardous occupations such as mining and construction. However, involuntary child labor occurred in the construction and mining (coal, gold, and fluorspar mineral) sectors, although largely if not exclusively in the informal, artisanal mining sector. Labor inspectors assigned to regional and local offices were responsible for enforcement of these prohibitions and all other labor regulations. Inspectors have the authority to compel immediate compliance with labor legislation, but enforcement was limited, due to the small number of labor inspectors and the growing number of independent enterprises.
Children worked informally in petty trade and unauthorized small-scale mining as well as scavenging in dumpsites and herding animals. Widespread alcoholism and parental abandonment made it necessary for many children to support themselves. The National Center for Children estimated the number of children in the labor force as high as 77,000, although up to 90 percent of these children were involved in traditional animal husbandry, while only 1 percent were estimated to be involved in mining.
International organizations continued to voice concern over child jockeys in horseracing. According to NHRC reports, more than 30,000 child jockeys competed in horse races each year. Children commonly learn to ride horses at age four or five, and young children traditionally serve as jockeys during the national Naadam festival, where races range from two to nearly 20 miles. The state bans racing with child jockeys during the coldest period (October 18 through February 13), and there are regulations requiring adequate headwear. With increased NGO monitoring during horseracing events, there reportedly was greater adherence to these regulations.

Acceptable Conditions of Work
The legal minimum wage was 108,000 tugrik ($87) per month. This minimum wage, which applied to both public- and private-sector workers and was enforced by the Labor Ministry, did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Some workers received less than the minimum wage, particularly at smaller companies in rural areas. The minimum wage is reset annually by the MSWL in consultation with trade union representatives and employers.
The standard legal workweek is 40 hours, and there is a minimum rest period of 48 hours between workweeks. For persons 14 and 15 years of age, the workweek is 30 hours; for individuals with disabilities and those 16 and 17 years of age, it is 36 hours. By law overtime work is compensated at either double the standard hourly rate or by giving time off equal to the number of hours of overtime worked. Pregnant women and nursing mothers are prohibited from working overtime by law. These laws generally were enforced in practice. There is no law mandating sick leave for workers. According to the government, employers set their own rules in this regard.
Laws on labor, cooperatives, and enterprises set occupational health and safety standards; however, enforcement of the standards was inadequate. The MSWL had an insufficient number of inspectors, according to the CMTU. Inspections were conducted both proactively and in response to complaints filed. A CMTU representative stated that fines imposed against companies not complying with labor standards were insufficient to induce management to resolve problems cited by inspectors. The near-total reliance on outmoded machinery and problems with maintenance and management led to frequent industrial accidents, particularly in the construction, mining, and power sectors. Workers have the right to remove themselves from situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, and authorities enforced this right.
Foreign workers, the majority of whom were Chinese mining and construction workers, reportedly worked in conditions that did not meet government regulations. The MSWL did not monitor the working or living conditions of Chinese or North Korean laborers. Observers stated that North Korean laborers likely failed to receive the minimum wage.