TNAG-0096-FCO40-132-Hong-Kong-Trade-Unions-1968 — Page 26

CONFIDENTIAL

G

3

XCC(68)5

C Welfare

(i) Employment Bill

This is a major piece of legislation which is in an advanced state of preparation. It will replace in part the Employers and Servants Ordinance by making more precise provisions regarding the duration of presumed and the validity of express contracts of service and the contractual obligations for terminating all such contracts in respect of workers whose employment is not of a casual nature. The changes arise from difficulties which have been experienced in the inter- pretation of the existing law. A new part will be added to ensure that wages are paid without improper deductions, as required by International Labour Organization convention No 95. The bill will be so framed as to enable additional parts to be added as and when agreement is reached on them until the whole comprises a comprehensive employment ordinance.

(ii) Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Bills

(iii)

Two bills will revise and extend the scope of existing legislation. The main features proposed for the first bill

are:-

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

to extend the benefits of compensation to non-manual workers earning up to $1,500 a month. The present wage limit is $700 a month for non-manual workers (manual workers are already covered regardless of wages earned);

to include domestic servants, who are now excluded;

to prescribe additional compensation for permanent total incapacity requiring the constant help of another person;

to increase periodical payments to a rate

of two thirds instead of one half of former monthly earnings, in accordance with I. L. O. recommendations and established practice elsewhere;

to require compulsory insurance by employers in selected dangerous trades.

The second bill will propose requiring the employer to meet the costs of treating industrial injuries. This basically covers medical care involving hospitalization and the provision of prostheses, but not out-patient treatment.

Industrial Employment (Holidays with Pay and Sickness Allowance) (Amendment) Bill

There will be two bills. The first bill is urgently required early in 1968 to bring the ordinance in line with the amended Holidays Ordinance, a matter which was originally overlooked.

CONFIDENTIAL