J
BACKGROUND NOTE
LABOUR LEGISLATION IN HONG KONG
General
1. There has been steady progress in improving labour legislation in Hong Kong in recent years, with nearly 150 laws, regulations or amendments introduced since 1970. It is however inappropriate to judge Hong Kong against the standards that apply in the United Kingdom. Conditions are different. A more realistic comparison
is with countries elsewhere in the region.
2. A useful yardstick for such a comparison is the application of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions.
1979 the position was:
Territory
Japan
Philippines
Indonesia
Singapore
Thailand
India
In September
Number of ILO Conventions Applied
35
19
8
21
11
33
Malaysia
Hong Kong
11 + 12 in only part of
the Federation
25 applied in full and 17 with modifications
3. There are two further points worth noting:
(a) Only Hong Kong of the territories in the above list increased
the number of Conventions applied in the 12 month period up to September 1979; action is already being taken to allow a further three to be applied before the end of the year.
(b) A survey carried out in 1977 among a selection of these
countries revealed that the enforcement of the local laws covered by the Conventions was generally much stricter in Hong Kong.
/Safety Legislation