Child and Forced Labour Compliance for Exporters

Child and Forced Labour explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.

India prohibits employment of children below 14 in all occupations under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 as amended. Separately, the United States and the European Union prohibit imports of goods made with forced labour, and enforcement operates on the whole supply chain, not just the exporter's own factory.

Two Distinct Exposures

Indian exporters face this issue from two directions, and they require different responses.

Indian law imposes direct obligations with criminal consequences on your own employment practices and, in some respects, on your contractors.

Destination market law operates on the goods themselves. It does not require proof that you did anything wrong; it requires the importer to demonstrate that no forced labour exists anywhere in the chain. A consignment can be detained on suspicion, and the burden of clearing it falls on the trade.

The Indian Framework

The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, as amended in 2016, is the principal statute. Its structure after amendment:

• Children below 14 years — employment prohibited in all occupations and processes, with a narrow exception for helping in a family enterprise outside school hours in non-hazardous work, and for work in the audio-visual entertainment industry subject to conditions.
• Adolescents aged 14 to 18 — employment prohibited in hazardous occupations and processes as listed in the Schedule.
• Penalties — imprisonment and fine for employers, with enhanced punishment for repeat offences.

Related legislation supports the framework, including the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, and the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, which is where responsibility for labour contractors' practices is most often engaged.

The International Standards Buyers Cite

India has ratified ILO Conventions 138 and 182. Buyers' codes of conduct almost invariably reference these instruments, and a supplier code that maps to them is easier to defend than one drafted from scratch.

Destination Market Enforcement

United States

US law prohibits the importation of goods mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part by forced labour. Enforcement operates through detention of consignments where there is information reasonably indicating forced labour in the chain, and the importer must then produce evidence to secure release. Detentions are costly regardless of the eventual outcome.

European Union

The EU has adopted a regulation prohibiting products made with forced labour from being placed on or made available in the EU market, or exported from it. Enforcement operates through investigation by competent authorities and, where a finding is made, withdrawal of the products from the market.

Supply chain due diligence obligations

Separately, large EU companies face due diligence obligations requiring them to identify, prevent and mitigate adverse human rights and environmental impacts in their chains. Those obligations are discharged partly by imposing requirements on suppliers — which is how they reach an Indian exporter.

Where the Risk Actually Sits

Rarely in the exporter's own audited factory. The recurring risk points:

• Unauthorised subcontracting — work placed with unaudited units to meet a delivery date
• Home-based work — embroidery, finishing, assembly done in households, where children are present
• Labour contractors — recruitment fees, wage deductions, retention of documents, and debt bondage
• Migrant workers — particularly vulnerable to recruitment fee debt and document retention
• Upstream raw material — farms, spinning mills, quarries, tanneries, several tiers back
• Apprenticeship or training schemes used to justify underage presence

Two indicators are treated by auditors as near-conclusive signs of forced labour: recruitment fees paid by workers, and retention of identity documents by the employer. Both are common in some sectors and both should be eliminated as a first step.

Building a Defensible Position

1. Policy. A written policy prohibiting child and forced labour, applying to your own operations and your suppliers, communicated in the languages your workforce uses.
2. Age verification. Documented at recruitment, with retained records and a defined process for verifying documents.
3. No recruitment fees. A clear rule that no worker pays for a job, extended to contractors in writing.
4. No document retention. Workers keep their own identity documents.
5. Written contracts in a language the worker understands, with wages, hours and deductions stated.
6. Supply chain mapping beyond tier 1, prioritising your highest-risk materials and processes.
7. Subcontracting control. Prohibit unauthorised subcontracting contractually, and verify it — this is where audits most often fail.
8. Grievance mechanism. A channel workers can actually use, including anonymously, with records of what was raised and how it was resolved.
9. Third-party social audit, and remediation of findings.
10. Training for managers and supervisors on what the requirements mean operationally.

When Something Is Found

The instinct to terminate the supplier immediately is understandable and usually wrong. Buyers, auditors and the due diligence frameworks all expect remediation:

• Remove the affected worker from the workplace safely, and in a child labour case ensure schooling and family income support rather than simply dismissal.
• Investigate how it happened — recruitment route, contractor, subcontracting.
• Fix the system, not the instance.
• Document everything: what was found, what was done, and what changed.
• Disclose to the buyer proactively. Discovered concealment is far more damaging than a disclosed and remediated finding.

Practical Tips

• Audit your labour contractors' recruitment practices, not only your own payroll.
• Do announced and unannounced checks on subcontractors during peak season, when the pressure to place work elsewhere is greatest.
• Keep age verification records for the full retention period; they are the first documents an auditor asks for.
• Map upstream for your highest-risk material even if no buyer has yet asked.
• Treat a detained consignment as a chain-of-evidence problem: the faster you can produce traceability and audit records, the shorter the detention.

Related Services & Guides

• Sustainable and Green Exports
• Supply Chain Risk Management
• Export Inspection and Certification
• More Guides