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Friday, February 15, 1974
MORE NON-MANUAL WORKERS TO BE PROTECTED
Under Workmen's Compensation And Employment Ordinances
Two bills aimed at providing statutory protection for many Hong
Kong employees are gazetted today.
The bills increase from $1,500 to $2,000 the monthly income limit
on non-manual employees covered by the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation
Ordinance and Employment Ordinance.
At present, a non-manual worker is not covered by the laws if
his monthly earnings exceed $1,500. All manual workers are covered,
regardless of income.
The Employment (Amendment) Bill 1974 will come into operation
immediately, if passed by the Legislative Council. The Workmen's Compensation
(Amendment) Bill 1974 would become effective on a date to be specified.
Commenting on the bills today, the Commissioner of Labour, Mr. Ian
Price, said the intention of raising the wage ceiling in the two bills was
to keep pace with wage growth.
"In recent years, wages for manual and non-manual workers have
increased steadily," he said. "Thus, a non-manual worker who was protocted
by the Worlamen's Compensation Ordinance and the Employment Ordinance in
1970 may well be excluded now from the ambit of the ordinance because his
monthly wages have increased beyond $1,500. This upward revision will give
him continued protection under the law.
FF
Mr. Price added that the Workmen's Compensation bill also proposes
to increase the scale of workers' compensation payments in line with the
increase in wage ceilings.
The two bills will shortly be introduced into the Legislative Council.
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