CYPHER CAT A
IMMEDIATE HONG KONG
TELE NO 585
CONFIDENTIAL
TO FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 23 JULY 1969
CONFIDENTIAL
YOUR TELEGRAM NO. 474.
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION BY MR. ERNEST THORNTON (FARNWORTH). THERE IS NO LEGISLATION REGULATING HOURS WORKED BY ADULT MALES BUT IN THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY 29,667 OF THE 59,374 MALES EMPLOYED IN MARCH 1969 WERE EMPLOYED ON EIGHT-HOUR SHIFTS. IN THOSE FACTORIES WHICH DO NOT WORK ON A THREE-SHIFT BASIS THE HOURS WORKED BY MALES ARE TO A LARGE EXTENT INFLUENCED BY THE PERMITTED HOURS OF WORK OF FEMALE EMPLOYEES. YOU ARE AWARE OF THE PHASED PROGRAMME WHICH WILL REDUCE STANDARD HOURS OF WORK OF WOMEN AND YOUNG PERSONS AGED 16 AND 17 YEARS OF AGE TO 48 HOURS A WEEK AND 8 HOURS A DAY BY 1ST DECEMBER, 1971. AT PRESENT WOMEN AND YOUNG PERSONS AGED 16 AND 17 ARE PERMITTED TO WORK 54 HOURS
A WEEK AND 9 HOURS A DAY WITH 209 HOURS OF PERMITTED OVERTIME A YEAR. IN MARCH 1969 69,268 FEMALES AND 59,374 MALES WERE EMPLOYED IN THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY.
2. QUESTION (1) NONE. EMPLOYED IN THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY WORK A 28-DAY MONTH, ALTHOUGH SOME WORK ON 30 DAYS AND OTHERS ON 26 DAYS. UNDER THE INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT (HOLIDAYS WITH PAY AND SICKNESS ALLOWANCE) ORDINANCE THEY ARE ENTITLED TO SIX DAYS' HOLIDAYS WITH PAY EACH YEAR,
A LARGE PROPORTION OF ADULT MALES
3.
QUESTION (2) - DURING 1968, 172 CASES INVOLVING 2,151 WOMEN AND YOUNG PERSONS WHO WERE FOUND TO BE WORKING ON THEIR PRESCRIBED REST DAY WERE BROUGHT TO COURT.
SIR D. TRENCH
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R CISTRY No.51 23 JUL 1969
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