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144.
New legislation or the amplification or clarification of existing legislation seems necessary as follows:-
(a) Contracts of Service and agreements,
There is no clear law, except for the Employers & Servants Ordinance 1902, regulating agreements and contracts of service and that legislation appears to be out of date and in some respects inadequate. (I.L.0. Convention No. 64 refers).
(b) Forced Labour.
There is no legal prohibition of forced labour (I. L. 0. Convention No. 29 refers and this requires that the competent authority shall issue precise regulations governing the use of forced labour).
(c) Employment of Children.
There appears to be no legislation relating to the minimum age at which children may be employed except that contained in the Factories & Workshops Ordinance 1937, nor is the age at which "family" employment is permissible prescribed by law. (I.L. 0. Conventions 58, 59 & 60 apply).
(a) Truck System.
Prohibition of the truck system does not seem
to appear in any cxisting legislation.
(e) Employer about to abscond in order to Evade Payment
of Wages.
No legal protection has been afforded to workers in such an eventuality and without this there is little the Department of Labour can do to assist a worker in such circunstances,
(f) Wages While in Prison.
The fact that wages are not payable while a worker is in prison or attending a Court of law in certain circumstances appears to need clari- fication.
(g) Indebtedness of Immigrants.
There is no limit to the amount of advances, made prior to the entry of a worker into the Colony, which can be recovered by deductions from future carnings.
(h) Statistics relating to Employment, Hours of Work
and Wages.
Information on these matters is collected on a voluntary basis and as a result is both inadequate and unsatisfactory. So long as this practice continues it will not be possible to implement I. L. 0. Convention No. 63.
(i) Entry and Inspection,
Adequate authority for entry and inspection of all places of employment seems necessary,
(j) Register of Workers.
All employers are not required by law to maintain a register of their workpeople.
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