TNAG-0087-FCO40-123-Conditions-of-employment-for-Hong-Kong-Chinese-working-in-th-1969 — Page 65

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29. It will be remembered that the U.K. Ministry of Labour agreed from the start to help to arrange transfers of contracts from one employer to another - see 21 on file FED. 299/401/02 (1963-65). I have spoken to the Ministry of Labour section which deals with this, and asked them whether they have any statistics on the extent to which this arrangement has been used. They told me that they would have to circularize employment exchange managers and ask for the statistics, which would be a time-wasting operation and one which they would naturally like to avoid unless it is absolutely essential. They have had nothing reported to them by any exchange in connexion with any such transfers, so they have probably been few, and certainly seem to have gone smoothly. They appreciate, as well as we do, that the foreign workers may very well have simply walked out from one employer and gone to another, without going through the Ministry of Labour at all, entering into a fresh contract with the new employer, whether formally or informally. However, foreign worker with a labour permit is supposed to report to the Home Office about any change of employer, and if many were doing this the Home Office would probably ultimately track them down. Their permits are always for one year only in the first instance, and the first employer has to guarantee repatriation. A permit can be renewed, and frequently is if the worker

and if the Home wants to stay and has an employer who wants to keep him; Office is satisfied that if this employee is not allowed to stay the employer will apply for a permit for another, they will probably readily The renew the man's permit, if he has not got into trouble in any way. Hong Kong Labour Department does not offer statistics about the return of "aliens", although it records some renewals of contracts. The Ministry of Labour state that, generalizing, they know that most foreign workers do not, in fact, stay very long in this country, despite what public opinion may think they stay a couple of years, and may even come back on a future occasion, but, by and large, the proportion who wish to stay for a really long period is small. They know of no cases of these aliens from Hong Kong having difficulty over repatriation at the expiry of permits.

It appears, therefore, that those who return either pay their own repatriation or have

In view of been loyal to their first employer and are repatriated by him. the fact that the numbers involved are quite high, the Ministry of Labour feel that if there had been trouble with such workers, they and the Home Office would know about it.

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The employer who wants to take on a foreign worker not yet in Britain has to guarantee repatriation before he gets a permit from the Home Office, and the permit can name a specific person which is what seems to be done in the case of Hong Kong aliens. Mr. Burn is not grumbling about repatri- ation, but about the journey from Hong Kong to Britain. Britain regards repatriation as a way of protecting us from having foreigners jobless and penniless in this country, but the Hong Kong Government, of course, regards it as a protection enabling a worker to go home, particularly in view of the The fact fact that he might otherwise be stranded very far away from home. is that employers who wish to bring someone from a foreign country to work in Britain almost inevitably have to pay the worker's fare to Britain. People have short memories, and do not seem to remember that only a few years ago a great deal of publicity was given in this country to foreign domestics au pairs from the Scandinavian countries and couples from Spain, etc. who welshed after having had their fares paid to this country, i.e. they came to fill a job offered by a desperate householder, accepted the fare to Britain, and then did not adhere to the contract which they had

Most of us would agreed to and signed for any longer than it suited them. agree that employers have to put up with a good deal when this happens, and do have a grievance when workers give notice and walk out without contribut- ing in any way towards the cost of the passage from their home to Britain.

in bringing The fact is that the employer in this country faces this risk: someone from Europe, the cost of the passage is of course not nearly so high

In an effort as in the case of Hong Kong, but the principle is the same. to improve the situation, Hong Kong now puts into their model contract that the period of notice must be three months, and not, as previously, "neess than four weeks". One can only presume that employers continue to take the risk of bringing aliens to work here and paying the passage to Britain

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