The Labour Department will step up inspections particularly in shopping arcades or locations with a concentration of bookstores in the coming summer months to detect illegal employment of children.

Senior Labour Officer Ernest Ip said in past years there were several cases of illegal employment of children as sales assistants in retail shops and for distributing bookstores' flyers in streets during the summer months.

Mr Ip reminds employers to comply with the Employment of Children Regulations and the Employment of Young Persons (Industry) Regulations when hiring employees aged below 18.

Without prior approval, it is illegal to employ children under 13. Children aged 13 or 14 may be hired to work in non-industrial establishments, but their employment is subject to the conditions laid down by the Employment of Children Regulations.

Those 15 or older may generally be employed to work in non-industrial establishments or industrial undertakings. But for those aged below 18 working in industrial undertakings, their working hours and general employment conditions are governed by the Employment of Young Persons (Industry) Regulations.

Those who contravene any of the two regulations' provisions are guilty of an offence and liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 upon conviction.

In the past two years, 12 employers havebeen convicted of breaching the two regulations.