EMPLOYMENT
110
except with the written permission of the Commissioner for Labour, no person shall employ any female person of whatever age or any male person under 16 years of age in a dangerous trade.
In 1990, the Labour Inspectorate of the Women and Young Persons Division made 221 148 day and night inspections of both industrial and non-industrial establishments and conducted six special campaigns against the employment of children and illegal immigrants, covering 21 818 establishments. During the year, 63 cases of child employment involving 63 children were brought before the courts.
A special team of labour inspectors is responsible for monitoring employers' compliance with the provisions of the Employment Ordinance concerning rest days, statutory holidays, paid annual leave, sickness allowance, maternity leave pay and the keeping and main- tenance of records relating to statutory benefits.
In addition, the general enquiry telephone service provides information to the public in the form of pre-recorded tapes in both English and Chinese. The tapes cover 29 topics under the Employment Ordinance, Protection of Wages on Insolvency Ordinance, Em- ployees' Compensation Ordinance and matters relating to employment of foreign domestic helpers.
Controls on Illegal Employment
Employers are prohibited, under the Immigration Ordinance, from employing persons who have no valid proof of identity and Vietnamese refugees who are not permitted to obtain employment.
The Immigration Ordinance also requires all employees to produce proof of identity for inspection and employers to maintain up-to-date records of their employees. These requirements are intended to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into Hong Kong. Labour inspectors and senior labour inspectors of the Labour Department are empowered by the Immigration Ordinance to enter places of employment to inspect the identities and records of employees. They are also empowered to seize and remove records of employees to provide evidence in the courts and to require the production of employees records by an employer.
During the year, 215 employees failed to produce valid proof of identity for inspection by labour inspectors at their places of employment. All the employees in question were subsequently referred to the Immigration Department or the Police for further investigation.
Long Service Payment
Since 1986, employers have been required under the Employment Ordinance to make long service payment to their employees who have worked continuously for a specified number of years, ranging from five to 10, and who are dismissed other than by way of summary dismissal or redundancy. The amount of long service payment is calculated at the rate of two-thirds of a month's wages for each year of service, but the rate is reduced if the employee is aged below 40.
Since July 1988, the long service payment scheme has been extended to cover eligible employees who resign on grounds of ill-health or who retire at the age of 65 or above after at least 10 years' service. Long service payment is also payable to the families of eligible employees who die in service.