FA
:
3CONOMIC
19, 1968
VIEW
One of the gaps in the new Employment Bill is its failure to clarify the position of married workers who need maternity leave.
contracts of employment in the present Bill will affect the legislation on redundancy. The concept of continuous em- ployment which is defined in this Bill will almost certainly be used when considering entitlement to redundancy payments. Care must be taken not to prejudice the success of this future legislation.
At present, the Labour Department believes that its de- finition of continuous employment by removing an injustice will remove a cause of grievances. True, it removes old complaints, but it will create new ones. If a girl in an elec- tronics factory is away from work for six months with TB, but produces medical certificates to prove illness, then she will not break her employment. What happens if she is away for six weeks having a baby? The Bill is silent on this, but
599
it is just the sort of issue which will arise and be important when claims for redundancy payments are made. In this case, it is not too late to write into the Schedule of the Bill that women away from work because of pregnancy should be allowed to preserve continuity of employment on terms no less favourable than those who are sick.
But not all contingencies can be legislated for, and so a cheap, informal and quick form of machinery is needed to settle disputes arising from contracts of employment, including cases of wrongful dismissal. This the law courts do not provide. Much better would be a system whereby a worker could appeal direct to the Labour Department. After investiga- . tion, the case would then be referred, if necessary, to an Industrial Tribunal composed of employers' and workers' re- presentatives with perhaps a lawyer as chairman. There would be no right of appeal against the decision of a Tribunal except on a point of law. This system works well in many countries,· and it has the great virtue of being flexible. The involvement of the Labour Department from the beginning of each disputed issue would give it an opportunity to conciliate in certain, cases, such as wrongful dismissal. If such a system were introduced now, it would have a chance to get into its stride.. before the redundancy payments legislation arrives with its inevitable aftermath of disputed claims. These, too, could then be dealt with by the Tribunals as in Britain.
As an improvement over present legislation this Bill is to be welcomed. But as a measure designed to protect the individual worker from some of the worst abuses of a free- booting industrial society it falls far short of its promise. (The textual amendments now proposed by the Labour De- partment are irrelevant from this point of view.) Above all, there is no sign of the imaginative and comprehensive strategy for labour law reform which Hongkong needs and which would give the Government's piecemeal legislation unity and strength.
-Quotations for Selected Hongkong Shares-
Closing Sale
Up or Down
Dividends
Yearly
Closing Sale
Rate
on
oa
Share
Sept. 13
H.X. Bank
152.00
Previous
Week
2.00
Rates 1968 High $
or
Rate
Up or Down
ΟΠ
Dividends
Yearly
Rates 1968
or
Low
$
$
Interim Final
5
Yield
ΟΠ Previous
High
Low
Interim Final
Yield
%
Share
160.00 121.00
2.30
5.20
5.26
(P. PJ.)
Sept. 13 Week
17.50n
S
$
$
$
%
18.70
17.00
1.25
7.14
Load. Reg.
158.00
161.00
121.00
2.80
5.20
5.06
China Light
Bank of. E.A.
88.00
+ 7.00
90.00
65.00
3.50
3.98
Ex. Div.
23.20
24.70
15.20
1.46*
6.30
Lombard Ins.
38.50
0.50
41.50
37.50
2.70
7.01
H.K. Elec. Ex. Div.
24.20
0.20
26.50
15.10
0.50
1.10
7.85
China Und.
14.00n
17.80
13.40
0.60
4.29
Macao Electric
6.00n
6.00
6.this
NIL
NIL
Autchison
8.40
0.35
8.95
4.75
0.20
0.40
7.14
HK Tel.
24.50
0.90
26.50
15.10
0.55
1.20
7.14
Allied Invest
4.95
5.65
3.20
0.35
7.07
HK Gas
12.90
0.10
13.60
10.09
0.40
0.60
7.75
H.K. Invest.
Gilman
4.40
4.50
2.61
0.00
0.1518
6.18
Ex. Div.
14.60
2.10
17.00
9.90
0.45 0.70
7.88
Jardine
18.10
0.20
15.30
11.49
0.25
0.75
5.52
Loan & Invest.
1.30
0.03
1.36
0.90
0.06
4.62
G.I. Cement
17.80
0.30
20.20
12.50
NIL
NIL
Vic. Int'l Inv.
S.Con
8.00
7.85
0.18
2.25
Metal Ind.
4.40
0.25
5.10
1.95
0.35
8.52
Wheelock
7.70
0.15
8.20
5.05
0.20
0.40$
7.79.
Amoy Can.
U. Waterboat
14.00n
- 1.50
15.60
10.60
1.40
10.00
Ex. Div.
24.00n
26.00
24.00
3.00
12.50
Asia Nav.
2.35n
2.55
1.95
0.08
3.40
Watson
51.00
0.50
51,00
2.00
2.50
I
3.82
H.K. Wharf
15.90
0.20
16.50
10.70
1.20
7.55
H.K. Breweries
34.50
37.00
22 19.
2.60 $
7.5+
MK Dock
33.00
0.25
35.00 24.40
2.00+t
7.53
HAECO
43.25
45.75
34.089
1.00
2.20
7.40
China Prov.
16.30
0.20
17.00
12.00
0.50
0.80+
9.20
Dairy Farm
46.25
0.75
48.50
30 (9)
1.20
2.45
7.89
Taikoo Dock
19.00 + 0.40
19.50
14.40
1.10+++
11.05
Lane Crawford
28.20
0.20
25.55
J8,39
2.50
8.57
K.K. Lund
Sincere
6.60
6.50
1.40
0.20
3.03
Ex. Div.
44.00
0.25
47.75
30.25
1.65
1.75
7.75
China Emp.
19.00n
19.00
11.50
1.20
6.32
H.K. Realty
1.38
0.02
1.48
0.84
0.05
3.62
Sun Co. Ltd.
2.80n
2.55
2.10
0.20
7.14
Humphreys
K. S. Hong
195.00n
210.00
TAW
6.00
9.00
7.69
Ex. Div.
19.60
0.60
20.50
14.90
0.00
1.20§
9.18
Wing On
77.00
0.50
77.50
6.00€
10.32
Local P. & P.
30.00
0.10
30.00
24.00
2.75
9.17
China Ent.
35.00n
0.50
42.60
25,14)
NIL
NIL
X Hotels
19.50
0.40
20.40
13.00
1.50
7.69
HK Const.
18.00n
22.10
0.50
2.10
14.44
City Hotels
8.55
0.25
9.00
5.10
0.02
7.02.
Vibro (Holdings)
3.00n
4.00
3,00
NIL
NIL
Chinese Estates
680.00n
680.00
490.00
15.00 55.00
10.29
Textile Corp.
9.05 + 0.45
9.35
1,4
0.35
3.87
Star Ferry
21.30
0.30
23.00
16.00
0.50
0.60
5.16
Nanyang Mills
8.95
0.05
9.40
410
0.35
3.91
Yaumati
43.75
1.25
45.50
32.75
1.00 3.00
9.14
S. Sea Textile
14.80
+ 0.80
14.90
4.74
1.10
7.43
H.K. Tramway
Text. All
15.80
0.10
15.
+4
0.27
0.75
6.33
Ex. Div.
18.20
0.30
10.90
8.00
0.35 0.65
9.80
Rubber Trust
5.75
6.40
0.12 0.47
10.26
K.M.B.
21.90
1.10
23.4+0
14.30
1.00
4.57
Amal Rubber
1.76
0.03
1.7)
1.A
0.03
0.12
8.52
C.M.B.
19.80
20.20
13.30
1.00
5.05
Shanghai Kel.
0.97+0.07
1.04
0.03
3.09
Peak Trams
32.50
40.50
32.50
2.50
7.69
Sungala
2.95n
3.05
1.65
0.05
0.12
5.76
aNominal.
Anticipated.
* Dividends paid quarterly.
Plus Bonus: † 20/ tt$0.50 +++$1.00 $0.15 $1.50.
Source: Weekly Report, Hongkong Stock Exchange Ltd.
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