TNAG-0230-FCO40-266-Conditions-of-employment-of-labour-force-in-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 194

CONFIDENTIAL

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(b)

(c)

(a)

Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Bill (to improve benefits and remedy defects).

New Employment Bill to provide, inter alia, for

severance pay on redundancy;

(i)

(ii)

clarification and improvement of period of notice on termination of employment;

(iii) protection of wages (cf. Truck Acts).

New comprehensive industrial relations legislation (to give effect to matters referred to in paragraph 20, including essential services).

26.

As regards (a) above, draft regulations have already been prepared; drafting instructions to give effect to (b) have been drawn up; but on (c) and (d) policy is still the subject of discussion between the Secretariat

and the Department of Labour. What can be effected

immediately therefore is not very impressive, nor is there likely to be any improvement unless a different method of determining and advancing policy is adopted than the present ponderous and slow mechanism of written exchanges. between the Commissioner of Labour and the Secretariat.

Events will simply not wait for the time scale present methods enforce. Moreover, the determination of Govern-

ment policy is only the first stage. Thereafter the following procedure has still to be followed

(a) Allocation of drafting priorities;

(b)

drafting instructions prepared in Department of Labour;

(c) legal drafting;

@

(a)

submission to Executive Council;

(e) submission to Labour Advisory Board;

(f) submission to Executive Council and

Legislature.

Against this background, any rapid action on the. much needed Employment Bill and Industrial Relations (and Essential Services) Bill would seem in the highest degree

unlikely unless there is determination to reach decisions quickly and usc every procedural and administrative device to cut corners and get the legislation on the

Statute Book.

CONFIDENTIAL

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