1958-HKRS30-8-48_Part03 — Page 19

12

13

Fenalty for contraven-

tion of

regulation

6, 11, 12, 24, 29, 32(1) or 88(3),

Liability of proprietora.

shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of two thousand dollars.

41. The proprietor of any industrial undertaking-

(a)

in which any person is permitted to do any- thing in contravention of any of the provisions of regulation 6;

(b) in respect of which any of the provisions of regulation 24, 29, 32(1) or 33(3) are con- travened; or

(c) in which an accident or dangerous occurrence occurs and is not reported or notice in writing of the death of any person resulting from such accident is not given in contravention of any of the provisions of regulation 11 or 12,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a line of one thousand dollars.

42. Notwithstanding anything contained in sec- tion to of the Ordinance, the proprietor of an in- dustrial undertaking in or in respect of which an offence against regulation 15(4) or 16 is committed shall not be guilty of a like offence.".

Made by the Commissioner of Labour this 28th day of October, 1958.

pelu

elfrich

Commissioner of Labour.

Approved by the Legislative Council this 5th day of November, 1958.

COUNCIL CHAMBER,

5th November, 1958.

4 Ly

Depurf Clerk 6f Councils.

Explanatory Note.

(Thĩa Note is not part of the regulations, but is intended to indicate their general purport).

The purpose of these regulations is to bring the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Regulations, 1955, so far as they relate to the hours of work and employment in industrial undertakinge of women and young persons, more closely into line with the corresponding accepted international practice. Subject to necessary adaptation, these deự régulations, where relevant, follow closely, subject to one exception which will be explained later, the corresponding provisions of the United Kingdom Factories Act, 1937, except that the permissible periods of employment and working hours prescribed are longer in the aggregate.

2. Those regulations draw a distinction between the period of employ ment and the actual hours worked. The "period of employment" is defined as a "period (inclusive of the time allowed for meals and rest) in which persona may be employed on any day", and "working hours" is defined as the time during which persons employed are at the disposal of the employer, exclusive of any intervals allowed for rest and meala." That distinction is important to the scheme in general.

Regulation 8 prescribes the general conditions sa to hours of employment of women and young persons and its practical effect, excluding overtime and shift work, will be as follows: Under the old regulations the maximum legal period of employment per day was the same as the maximum legel number of hours which could be worked per day, namely, thirteen hours, because no distinction was made between the two conceptions, as the main purpose of those regulations was to prohibit night work for women and young persons. The new regulations will reduce the maximum legal period of employment per day to twelve hours and the maximum legal number of hours which may be worked per day to ten houra, Similarly, under the old regulations, the maximum legal period of employ- ment in any week was the same as the maximam legal number of hours which could be worked in any week, namely 91, but these regulations will reduce the maximum legal period of employment in any week to 72 hours and the maximum legal number of hours which may be worked in any week to 60 hours. The reduction in the case of the maximum period of employment per week and the maximum number of hours of work per week respectively takes into account the new regulation 100 which prohibits the employment of any woman or young person for more than six days in any week. The provision requiring one rest day per week existed under the old regulation 8(c) but only in respect of young persons under the age of sixteen years.

As regards overtime, the old regulations made na provision to control overtime as such, except in the case of young persons under the age of sixteen who, by regulation 6(6), were not permitted to work more than nine hours a day. A woman or young person could, work any period between 7 a.m. and & p.m. and on not more than sixty days in any year. with the consent of the Commissioner, up till 9 p.m.; and, if work were done in eight hours shifts, with the consent of the Commissioner, the first shift could begin as early as 6 a.m. and the second shift end as late as 10 p.m. What was regarded as overtime work was a matter for agreement between the employer and the worker, for within the working hours stated above no limits were set. The new regulation 10 makes detailed provision relating to overtime work and draws a distinction between the overtime working of an industrial undertaking as a whole and the overtime working of the individual workers engaged therein. The new regulation requires the Proprietor of every Industrial undertaking in which women and young persons are employed to post in the undertaking a notice stating the period of employment for each day of the week and the intervals allowed for