Strategic Management: Analysis of Child Labor in Pakistan Factories

This report analyzes the issue of child labor in Pakistan, focusing on the case study 'Third World Families at Work: Child Labor or Child Care?'. It examines the legal framework, including the constitution and relevant acts, which set age limits and working conditions for children. The report highlights the discrepancy between the laws and the realities faced by children working in factories, often alongside their parents, for low wages and in harsh conditions. It discusses the ethical implications of child labor, the lack of educational opportunities, and the impact on children's health and development. The analysis includes an evaluation of the source materials, emphasizing the importance of providing safe and humane working environments. The report references articles and the constitution of Pakistan, which underscores the need for amendments to protect children and provide free education. The report emphasizes the need for compliance with regulations and the importance of addressing the root causes of child labor to ensure children's well-being.

C O N T E M P O R A R Y S T R AT E G I C M A N A G E M E N T
Social Sustainability

Rules and regulations
Age requirements for employment of children
According to the case study: Third World Families at Work: Child labor or child care?, Jonathan Stein
witnessed Pakistani girls younger than 10 years working as sweepers at a Timothy & Thomas plant.
The age limit of children that can be employed by factories in Pakistan is 14.
According to Article 11(3) of the constitution, children under the age of 14 should not be engaged for
any factory or hazardous employment ( Nicholas, 1993).
The government is mandated to provide free and compulsory education to any children aged between
5 and 16.
The minimum age for light work is 12, and as prescribed under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prohibition
of Employment of Children Act, this should be alongside a family member and for a maximum of 2
hours, purely for learning purposes. The case study states that the mothers take the children to work.
Their daughters start off with small tasks at the plant and advance to working on the sewing machine
as they learn more skills.
Children younger than this can not possibly have the knowledge to manouvre around and operate these
machines.

Third-world Families at Work: Child Labor or Child Care?
In this case study, Pakistani girls who are denied an opportunity to attend school are
required to work to supplement their family income, without which they would languish in
poverty or even work in more unfavourable work conditions as maids or at carpet factories
whose work is more taxing
Child labour is described as the kind of child work which affects their health and personal
development like school attendance.
By description, child labour also deprives children of their dignity, as well as their social
and mental development.
Children under the age of 14 are constitutionally allowed to work only in businesses
belonging to the family or in observation of an adult, or in easy tasks like babysitting.
Children working with their parents in the case study received no pay and older girls
working on machines receive 1200 rupees wages as trainees, which is a third of what adults
are paid.

Work conditions to be availed for child employees.
Article 37(e) of the Pakistan constitution states that the government will make
provisions to secure just and humane work conditions, and ensure that they are not
employed for duties unsuited for their age and gender.
Extreme working conditions such as working with bare hands that in that redden in
the cold rooms the operations occur in, as well as having to cover heads with woven
shawls and putting on layers of long blouses over thin flowing pants to combat this
cold is common to most women in the plantation.
Children should not work for more than 40 hours a week, this including the rest hours.
Children brought to work by their parents are paid no money and the older girls are
paid only 1200 rupees for their work, which is a third of what an adult would earn.
Additionally, these places these children’s lives at risk because they are too young to
have acquired and understood the proper way of working around machines

Payment offered to child employees
The reward for the children is basic meals and a roof over their heads.
Considering the level of poverty in Pakistan, these young girls are grateful to
receive a meal or two as compensation because they would otherwise perish due
to cold and hunger.
Provision of proper living standards, and education are a basic need for children
around the world
For these children, their best chance for education is in the skills they learn while
working at the textile plants
These works as a training ground for them since they up only to continue working
in these plants
The girls working on the machines are paid 1200 rupees for their work, roughly a
third of what adults receive, and those that come with their mothers to help are
paid nothing despite the fact that they help the work to flow faster.

Rules and Regulations
The supervisor at the factory assured that the workers were provided with regular meals.
This is a factor showing that the company attempts to provide a conducive environment for the
workers.
There has also been no reports of accidents occurring at the factory involving children.
This could show that the children who are allowed to operate the machines usually have amassed
enough expertise such that they can faultlessly do the operations.
Women and particularly younger girls were overworked at their factory site and were deprived
key health privileges like when they had to work in cold rooms.
 They were given lesser rest hours between the shifts and made to work under critical
circumstances that threatened their health status.
They were underpaid despite providing enormous quality work
This source provides the true facts of the situation third world countries

Source Evaluation
The laws protecting children in Pakistan are very precise in their intention to protect women and
children from exploitation, and highlighting the importance of education by recommending the hours
within which children between 14 to 18 years are allowed to work(Wageindicator Foundation, 2017).
References for this presentation referenced the constitution of Pakistan and other countries and its
differences in different states.
Amendments to the constitution to protect children and provide free education were noted and
highlighted.
Country constitutions cannot be bent by opinion, and this makes the references very reliable.
Child labour in Pakistan and many other countries is punishable by law(Silvers, 1996).
The general impression from the case study and the reference articles is that though the countries’
constitutions have clauses to protect children in employment and have imposed punishments in form
of fines and jail sentences, however, child labor is still practiced.

References
French, J.L. J Bus Ethics (2010) 92: 63. Springer Science Business Media B.V. Retrieved
from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0140-y
Nicholas, M. (1993). Third-World Families at Work: Child Labor or Child Care? Harvard
Business Review January-February 1993 Issue
Silvers, J. (1996, February). Child Labor in Pakistan. Retrieved April 5, 2018, from The
Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1996/02/child-labor-in-pakistan/
304660/
SPARC organization. (2015). Child Labor. Retrieved April 5, 2018, from SPARc:
http://www.sparcpk.org/2015/Childlabor.html
Wageindicator Foundation. (2017, June). Child Labour and Pakistan . Retrieved April 5,
2018, from PayCheck.pk: https://paycheck.pk/main/labour-laws/fair-treatment/minors-and-
youth/child-labour