56
EMPLOYMENT
Labour Conventions which set international labour standards. However, the United Kingdom Government makes declarations on behalf of Hong Kong with regard to the application of conventions it ratifies. This is done after full consultation with the Hong Kong Government. As at December 1983, Hong Kong had applied 30 conventions in full and 19 with modification, making a total of 49. This compares favourably with most member nations in the region.
During 1983, there were 7513 prosecutions for breaches of ordinances and their regulations administered by the Labour Department. Fines totalling $7,448,500 were imposed.
Wages and Conditions of Work
There is no statutory minimum wage rate in Hong Kong. The wage level prevailing is essentially the result of an interplay of the economic forces of supply and demand.
Wage rates are usually calculated on a time basis such as hourly, daily or monthly, or on an incentive basis depending on the volume of work performed. The pay period is normally 10 or 15 days for daily-rated and piece-rated workers and a month for monthly-rated workers. Most semi-skilled and unskilled workers in the manufacturing industries are piece-rated, although daily rates of pay are also common. Monthly-rated industrial workers are usually employed in the skilled trades or in technical and supervisory capacities. On the other hand, monthly rates of pay are most common for workers in the non-manufacturing industries. Men and women receive the same rate for piece-work, but women on average are paid less when working on a time-basis as there may not be strict job-comparability.
Wage rates of manufacturing workers continued to increase in money terms during 1983. The favourable influences of the steadily decelerating rate of increase in consumer prices and of the more stable growth rate of the labour force were largely offset by the depressing effects of the world recession on the domestic export sector. Starting from the second quarter of 1983, Hong Kong's domestic export performance showed a significant improve- ment and the growth in the export trade was sustained during the latter half of the year. The improvement helped to reduce unemployment and sustain wage increases.
A Consumer Price Index (A), based on a household expenditure survey conducted from October 1979 to September 1980 and covering about 50 per cent of urban households in Hong Kong, was compiled as an indicator of the average price changes experienced by urban households spending between $1,000 and $3,499 a month in the base period of 1979–80. In December 1983, this index stood at 150, (see Appendix 16). A Consumer Price Index (B) was compiled to show the average price changes experienced by urban households spending between $3,500 and $6,499 a month in 1979–80. This covers about 30 per cent of the urban households in Hong Kong.
In September 1983, 75 per cent of manual workers engaged in manufacturing industries received daily wage rates (including fringe benefits) of $64 or more (males $73 and females $62), and 25 per cent received $94 or more (males $109 and females $88). The overall average daily wage rate was $81 (males $94 and females $75).
Besides granting rest days, statutory holidays, paid annual leave and other entitlements under the Employment Ordinance, quite a number of employers in the manufacturing industries provide workers with subsidised meals or food allowances, attendance bonuses, free medical treatment, and a Lunar New Year bonus of one month's pay or more. Free or subsidised accommodation and transport are also provided by some of the larger establishments. Since March 1982 an expanded survey of wages, salaries and employee