issued by the Hong Kong Government for the
guidance of employers and employees alike.
This in itself is not a document prescribed by
It does no more than suggest a form
statute.
of contract which would meet with the approval
of the Commissioner of Labour for purposes of
attestation. To this end it includes a
suggested form of words for clauses dealing with
matters whose inclusion the Commissioner of
Labour is bound by statute to insist upon;
other details are optional. Even much of what
is inserted in the mandatory clauses (e.g.
wage rates, overtime pay, hours of work,
holidays, advances, etc.) is negotiable;
but
the scope for variation of the mandatory clauses
is limited since they must conform with the
requirements of Section 5(2) of the Hong Kong
Ordinance concerned (Contracts for Overseas
Employment Ordinance).
All this has been
explained to Mr. Burn by his legal adviser.
I now turn to the employer's liability to
pay the alien worker's passage to this country.
imposes
The Ordinance (Section 5(2)(j), requires this libbly
and the model contract contains a clause which
makes provision for the termination of the
The
contract by worker, without commitment to
repay any part of the expenses incurred by the
employer in regard to his passage to the United
Kingdom. It is not, I think you will agree,
brings unreasonable to expect an employer who recruit
alien workers from so far away as Hong Kong to
bear the sole responsibility for the recruit-
mant expenses that he incurs.
/The Hong Kong ...
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