XN000022-1996-05-17 — Page 4

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entitle an employee to deem non-payment of wages for over one month as termination of employment; and

improve the provisions on end-of-year payment.

Explaining the details of the two bills in the same press conference, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Mr Alfred Chan Wing-kit, said the improvements to the existing provisions on maternity protection were proposed having regard to the International Labour Convention (ILC) No 3 concerning the employment of women before and after child birth, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women as well as the practices in other neighbouring countries.

"Under the bill, any pregnant employee who is under a continuous contract of employment (defined as four consecutive weeks of service comprising 18 hours of work per week under the Employment Ordinance), rather than having to complete 26 weeks of continuous employment under the existing requirement, will be entitled to 10 weeks' unpaid maternity leave.

"The present qualifying condition of having no more than two surviving children is also considered less and less tenable in view of the trend of reducing family size. We therefore propose to remove this restriction," Mr Chan said.

Mr Chan said to avoid confusion over the duration of maternity leave, the Government proposed that the 10-week maternity leave should count from the date of commencement of leave, with the possible extension of a period equivalent to the number of days of delay in confinement and another period of four weeks on medical grounds.

In case the actual confinement takes place before the leave commences, the 10- week maternity leave should count from the actual date of confinement.

To protect workers against dismissal on the ground of pregnancy, the Government proposes to remove the qualifying service requirement, so that any pregnant employee who has a continuous contract of employment under the Employment Ordinance will be entitled to such protection.

As for the penal damages for wrongful dismissal of a pregnant employee, the Government proposes to increase the amount of penal damages from an amount equivalent to seven days' wages to one month's wages, in addition to the 10 weeks' maternity leave pay (if the employee will otherwise be entitled to it).

This will impose a greater deterrent effect on employers and increase the compensation for the psychological and financial sufferings of the aggrieved employees.