EMPLOYMENT
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With advice from employers' associations and employees' unions, considerable progress was achieved in formulating proposals for a scheme of compulsory employment of safety officers and safety supervisors in the construction industry.
As a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong is not a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and is not called upon to ratify any International 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 ratifics. This is done after full consultation with the Hong Kong Government. As at December 1984, 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 the year, there were 7 140 prosecutions for breaches of ordinances and their regulations administered by the Labour Department. Fines totalling $7,883,530 were imposed.
Wages and Conditions of Work
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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.
Wages 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 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, supervisory, clerical and secretarial capacities. On the other hand, monthly rates of pay are most common for workers in the non-manufacturing industries. Men and women receive more or less 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.
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Wage rates of manufacturing workers continued to increase in money terms during 1984. After allowing for the increase in consumer prices, there was an increase of 1.7 per cent in real terms during the 12 months ending September 1984. Hong Kong's domestic export performance continued to show significant improvement in both money and real terms throughout the year. The improvement helped to reduce unemployment and under- employment and to 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 1984, this index stood at 156.7 (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 1984, 75 per cent of manual workers engaged in manufacturing industries received daily wage rates (including fringe benefits) of $74 or more (males $85 and females $72), and 25 per cent received $106 or more (males $123 and females $100). The overall average daily wage rate was $91 (males $106 and females $86).
Besides granting rest days, statutory holidays, paid annual leave and other entitlements under the Employment Ordinance, a number of employers in the manufacturing industries
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