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5.
The second proposal put to Executive Council was that upon the enactment of the amending Ordinance the Commissioner of Labour should make the special regulations, of which a draft is attached, for presentation to the Legislative Council for approval by resolution in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance. The effect of these special regulations is to limit by statute to 48 the hours worked per week by women and young persons in those specified industries in which this is already current practice. This also was agreed by Executive Council after considerable debate but subject to the amendment at the same time of the main Factories and Industrial Undertakings Regulations to raise the hours of generally permissible overtime per annum from 100 to 150 hours and of overtime in special cases with the permission of the Commissioner of Labour from 150 to 300.
6.
These steps having been agreed, Executive Council advised further that the Commissioner of Labour should prepare proposals :-
7.
(a)
for further legislation in respect of those industries in which a 48 hour week is the common but not the universal practice whereby the standard working week would be 48 hours but overtime up to 12 hours a week would be permitted for individual factories for such reasonable time as they would require to adjust themselves to the common practice; and
(b) for a phased programme for the progressive reduction, according to an agreed calendar, of the standard working week for all other industries with the object of bringing in a universal standard 48 hour week throughout all industries, in consultation with the Labour Advisory Board and the four organisations represented on the Working Party.
I appreciate that these decisions may not go as far or as quickly as you would wish. They do, nevertheless, represent a significant change in Hong Kong thinking on a particularly sensitive subject and I am satisfied that this is as much as can be gained with good will at this juncture and that to try to press for anything more would be unwise.
8.
The information required by paragraph 3 of your telegram under reference is, as at the end of March, 1967 :-
(1) Women
Young Persons
(2) Women
Young Persons
193,000 6,000
36,000
1,100
The returns necessary to provide up to date figures for (3) are in the process of collection.
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