* 2600027 C.S. 20A
SAVING DESPATCH SAVINGRAM
From the Governor, Hong Kong Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
To the Secretary of State for the Colonies
No. 1142
Repeated to:—
Repeated to:—
Date.....
13th October, 1969.
My Reference...
CR 169/65 V
Your Reference....
No.
No.
The Employment of Women at Night in Industrial Establishments
When the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs visited Hong Kong in June this year I mentioned that we wished to be able to grant, by means of selective exemptions under section 7(4) of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance (Cap. 59), permission for adult women to work at night. Such exemptions are at present granted only for women supervisors. Reference to my savingram No. 241 of 5th March, 1969 will show how infrequently we grant exemptions.
2.
It is my intention that the Commissioner of Labour should grant exemptions only to specific factories which are capital intensive, rely on the dexterity of women for the manufacture of their products, and offer reasonable and safe working conditions. Hong Kong is at present very short of labour. The survey undertaken by the Labour Department in June revealed 22,643 vacancies in registered and recorded factories. In this worker's market there is no question of exploitation or of women being forced to work at night against their wishes. Indeed, I believe that industrialists will be able to attract women on to night shifts only if they offer considerable additional remuneration or if the women themselves prefer night work.
3.
Lord Shepherd was sympathetic but considered that criticism might arise in Britain and that consequently any relaxation should be coupled with substantial progress on certain aspects of labour legislation. The following four measures were mentioned :-
4.
(i) permission for male workers in industry to take four
days rest a month;
a statutory weekly pay period;
X (ii)
making it obligatory for an employer to report
? (iii)
failure to pay wages;
iv) increasing the amount of the wages given priority
under both the Bankruptcy and Companies Ordinances.
Each of these measures has now been considered. The first was approved by the Labour Advisory Board on 10th July. Amending legislation has since been drafted which will not only permit male adults in industry
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