HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1954
Government wages and salaries were reviewed by a Salaries Commission which started work in November, 1953, and issued its report in March, 1954. Govern- ment found some of the recommendations unacceptable, but a modified scheme of salary revision, based on the Commission's proposals but including a larger measure of consolidation, received the approval in principle of the Secretary of State for the Colonies by the end of the year. An advance announcement was made just before Christmas of the revised salaries and allowances for monthly paid Government workers in the unskilled, semi-skilled and artisan groups and for disciplined staff generally. No change was proposed for daily rates of pay but Government announced its intention of trans- ferring daily paid workers to the more favourable monthly rates after a specified period of qualifying service. The new monthly salaries resulted in an increase varying from $17 to $40 per month for the lower category of workers and brought the total emolu- ments of Government staff into closer relationship with those of workers in public utility companies.
Working hours
The 48 hour week is standard in European concerns and in Chinese concerns run on western lines. In public utilities and some of the cotton spinning mills a system of three 8 hour shifts is used. In such concerns where a continuous supply must be main- tained, rest days are arranged in rotation, so that Sunday is only one of seven rest days, but in manu- facturing concerns the rest day is usually Sunday.
Some Chinese concerns, and in particular the building trade, favour a 7 day week and this is sometimes coupled with a 9 hour day.
These long
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