33 have
A. Welfare
Contract of Service and protection of
3. Redundancy
"You announced publicly last year, äir, the existence of the departmental programe and stated that it contained about 33 items. That was the position at the time. During 1967, sight separate items of new legislation became law. These included a major item of legislation concerning the welfare of women and young persons in industrial employment which introduced a phased programme for the progressive reduction of the maximum standard working hours to eight hours a day and 6.48 hours a week, In spite of the removal of these sight items from the
departmental programme the number still stands at 33 items. During 1967, new items have been added and further progress made with old ones.
Constitutional
"From time to time public reference has been wade to the subject matter of some of the individual items in this programie but no comprehensive account has been officially given. There are constitutional and other good reasons for this. It is not customary er appropriate to announce details of proposed legislation until the principles have been approved by this Council by, for example, endorsement of a white Paper on policy or the introduction of a particular Bill following publicat on. From the time when a Bill is first conceived until it is publicly brought before Honour- able Members for consideration, it may, and often does go through a great many changes as a result of the necessary processes of consultation, drafting problems, changing circumstances, and external factors of timing.
"It would be misleading to the general public and derogatory to this Council if a blow-by-blow account of progress was to be made public. Nonetheless, the heightened interest in recent months in the activities of the Labour Department does, I believe, justify some departure from the normal practice in this case.
"Accordingly, I propose to reveal in broad general terus the scope of the principal legislative measures which I me now examining for consideration by Government and, where ap: ropriate, by this Council. In outlining this progrMIEM, I must clearly and emphatically state that I am only the departmental head initiating this programme. I cannot dictate, although I say hope to influence, the final form or the time of introduction of any part cular Bill into this Council nor, of course, the form in which it is eventually enacted.
Welfare of workers
"The work of the Labour Department and the Mines Department falls within three main groups of subjects. These are safety, health and welfare. The bulk of the proposals for legislation broadly concerns welfare in a wide variety of subjects. A measure of the highest priority would affect the welfare of a vast majority of workers. The draft Bill will deal with contracts of service and the protection of wages. It will clarify the rights and obligations of workers and employers who enter into contractual arran, ements, It will, in particular, distinguish between regularly-employed and casual workers irrespective of the basis on which wages might be calculated. It will also protect wages in conformi ty with convention No. 95 of the International Labour Organisation.
"It is intended so to frame the Bill that other parts may be conveniently added in future with the objective of compiling in due course a comprehensive ordinance dealing with the main problema of employment. Another measure affecting the welfare of many workers concerns redundancy. The experience of conciliation officers reveals that redundancy and the fears of redundancy are responsible for many anxieties. It is understandable that workers are often bewildered, frustrated, and angrey over the turn of evente when they lose their jobs in this way. I hope to be able to recomend statutory entitlements for redundancy payments based on length of service and other relevant consideratione,