''
HD 18/6
Curtis Green,
147
24 January, 1968.
AS
The difficulty of obtaining detailed information about the hours of overtime logally permitted in Asian countries other than Hong Kong prevented George Thon from replying more fully to your Question in the House last week hence his promise to write. I am very sorry that, even now, the information we have since been able to obtain scarcely enables an accurate comparison to be made with Hong "ong.
ong. I gather that Ray Gun.ur has given you information obtained from the I.1.0. in respect of seven Asian countries. From this it seems that in India alone of the seven, are women and young persons at present permitted to work longer hours of overtime tha.. in Hong Kong and that this will cease to be true after 30 November 1969. However, full details of the overtime provisions in those seven countries are simply not avail- able, nor are the regul tions (if any) that may be applicable in a large number of other Asian countries like Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, urna, Cambodia or Thailand It is quite possible that even where there are regulations stipulating shorter maximum hours of overtime for women and young persons than in Hong Kong, toy are not so strictly enforced.
As I am sure you appreciate, the reason why the maximu hours of overtime permitted for women and young persons in Hong Kong are being increased over four years in step with the reductions in working hours is rimarily to avoid
ELNIT THORNTON, ES., MBE, MP.
/reductions
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