The hard facts are literally in the last few paragraphs of this long article:

"Tzi, the father [...] told Reuters he regrets that his children had gone to work. The family needed any income it could get at the time, he added, but is now trying to move on."

The father knew.

"After the disappearance generated local news coverage, SMART dismissed a number of underage workers"

Hyundai (SMART) knew.

12 year olds.

Yeah the guy is probably not a great dad. The children should sue the company for damages

Interestingly, in some parts of Canada (Alberta, British Columbia & Manitoba) the legal working age is 12, the same age as those in the article.

Of course there are some restrictions (2-4 hours per day maximum on school days, some restricted industries, restrictions on how late/early, etc.). I and several of my friends all had jobs at local fast food shops and such by the time we were ~13.

It should go without saying that I don't think it's a good thing that children are forced to or feel obligated to work while so young, and this specific case would violate those Canadian laws anyways (as the children were working in lieu of school).

When I was 12 I worked weekends at my uncles used car lot selling trucks. Answering phones, washing/cleaning cabs, clearing parts for paint with angle grinder, populating bill of sales, researching competing offers in classifieds, learning mechanics. Hell, I even dug out a shallow trench for a telephone cable, that one took me two weeks :)

If your family owns a business, it’s pretty normal for the children to work there. And if that business is a farm it’s going to be pretty hard work, harder than us office dwellers probably ever worked.

Please don't go down this line of reasoning. I think we all understand that a family run farm or shop is going to have their children work there at some point. This is not a problem because the parents (usually) have a vested interest in their children's health.

However children working on farms loop hole is rife with abuse: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/12/04/more-us-child-workers-di...

The reasons why we have prohibitions on child labor in general is exactly the problem noted in the OP. Desperate parents will essentially put their kids at risk (even sell them) and unscrupulous employers will abuse children.

> This is not a problem because the parents (usually) have a vested interest in their children's health.

If only.

I think, at least for AB, that is (or was) one of the primary driving forces behind the low minimum age. Related; children of farmers used to get to start school a few weeks later than the children of non-farmers, to help with harvest and such. It's also one of the reasons for the low age requirement for driving license (14 instead of the usual 16).

But, at least in mine and my friends cases, we were working for fast food chains rather than family-owned businesses or farms.

Nothing will ever change until we start putting executives in jail.

You can't do that, it's not China.

That's unfortunate.

oh wow, I toured this plant as a kid. well, the paint electroplating part of the plant, specifically, which was operated by Dürr. I was fascinated by all the shiny machines - I guess I could have applied for a job!