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particularly in the cotton spinning and weaving industries have in practice been working on a basis of three 8 hour shifts a day for the past ten years or more, while in building and shipbuilding as well as in the utility companies a 48 hour week has been standard practice. The main difficulty over reducing hours of work has hitherto been in industries which do not lend themselves to a shift system of operations.
Rest Days
4.
As in the United Kingdom there is at present no law in existence providing a statutory right to rest days for male workers in industry. However, many male industrial workers in Hong Kong have been affected by the legal restrictions imposed on the permitted hours of work for women and young persons in factories. Moreover, the current labour legislation programme contains a measure to provide a statutory right
to rest days for adult male workers in industry.
5.
Legislation
On the legislative aid there has been a great deal of recent
In February of activity to update and amplify existing legislation. this year the Commissioner for Labour described in detail before the
Legislative Council a programme of comprehensive labour legislation which it was proposed to introduce. The programme included new provisions for conciliation, joint consultation, welfare, redundancy and holidays, Altogether there are some twenty to thirty pieces of legislation which can be conveniently considered under the three broad headings - welfare, safety and health. The bulk of the proposals concern welfare and as such would affect the vast majority of workers. of this legislative programme, the Employment Bill has been accorded the highest priority and will shortly be given its first reading in the Legislative Council, The next major item will be the
This should be ready for Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Bill,
presentation to the Executive Council in September and to the
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/Legislative
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Private notes are available after approval.