TNAG-0091-FCO40-127-Social-welfare-working-conditions-in-Hong-Kong-1968 — Page 33

EMPLOYERS AND SERVANTS ORDINANCE, 1961

64. CONTRACTS OF SERVICE. Contracts between an employer and a worker are normally terminated in the manner laid down in the contract itself and agreed between both parties. Where there is no evidence as to the agreed duration or method of termination of a contract, the Employers and Servants Ordinance, 1961, provides that, except in the case of h by the hour, day, job, or journey, every contract to work personally for any period of time which is entered into between an employer and any worker in receipt of cash wages of $700 or less per month is, until the contrary is proved, deemed to be a contract for one month renewable from month to month. Such a contract may be terminated by either party giving to the other 30 days' notice of termination or by the employer paying such wages as may be due under the contract together with not less than one month's wages in lieu of notice. The Ordinance does not, however, deprive an employer of his right to dismiss a worker summarily for cause without notice or pay in lieu.

65. The services of the Industrial Relations Section of the Labour Department are available without charge to try to resolve individual disputes regarding termination of service or arrears of wages. Where a voluntary settlement is not possible, the Ordinance provides for proceedings to be instituted in the District Court without fee.

INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT (HOLIDAYS WITH PAY AND SICKNESS ALLOWANCE) ORDINANCE, 1961

66. All manual workers employed in industrial undertakings as well as non-manual workers earning less than $700 per month are entitled to a total of 6 holidays in a year on the following days: Chinese New Year's Day, the day following Chinese New Year's Day, the day of the Tsing Ming Festival, the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the day of the Chinese Mid- Autumn Festival and the day of the Chinese Winter Solstice Festival. An employer may, by giving not less than 15 days' notice, grant a holiday on the day preceding Chinese New Year's Day in lieu of a holiday on the day following Chinese New Year's Day, or granting a holiday on the first day of January in lieu of a holiday on the day of the Chinese Winter Solstice Day which precedes the first of January. An employer may also, by giving not less than 48 hours' notice to the worker, grant him another day in lieu of a holiday on a statutory holiday provided that the substituted holiday is given within 60 days after the statutory holiday. By mutual agreement between a worker and his employer, any other day may be substituted for a statutory holiday.