BACKGROUND NOTE
THE EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN IN HONG KONG
1.
At present it is illegal in Hong Kong to employ children
under 14 in industrial undertakings or dangerous trades. Legislation
is now being prepared that will extend this prohibition to the full-
time employment of children in non-industrial undertakings (eg
restaurants). The age limit will also be raised to 15, except for
those children who have already completed six years of primary and
three years of secondary education.
2. This new legislation will be brought into effect by 1980,
to coincide with legislation making it compulsory for all children
to receive three years of secondary education. By this time,
the Hong Kong Government will also have met its commitment to
provide free secondary school places up to the age of 15 for all
those children whose parents do not choose to send them to private
fee-paying schools.
3.
4.
Children will still be allowed to undertake a strictly limited
number of hours of part-time work in non-industrial undertakings.
Enforcement of this legislation is the responsibility of the
Labour Inspectorate of the Hong Kong Department of Labour. Their
present establishment of 141 Inspectors will be substantially
increased when the new legislation comes into effect. In addition
to the regular visits to all factories carried out by the inspectors
as part of their work in enforcing labour legislation generally,
special campaigns are carried out periodically to detect and
prosecute employers who are using children illegally. These
campaigns have consistently revealed in recent years that fewer than
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