TNAG-0231-FCO40-267-Conditions-of-employment-of-labour-force-in-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 76

75

Your reference: HKK 5/3

Our reference: SHW 2194/1969

DEPARTMENT OF

EMPLOYMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY

Safety, Health, & Welfare Division.

Baynards House, 1-13 Chepstow Place

Westbourne Grove, LONDON W.2

Telephone: 01-229 3456, ext. 334

RATIVED IN

the

REGISTRY N 51

16th July, 1970.

I.R. Murray, Esq.

Hong Kong Department,

Foreign and Commonwealth Office London S.7.1

Dear Murray,

R&R please

Rej 17/7/70

17 JUL 97

LAL

13

никор

We have talked on the phone about your letter of 11th June to P.L. Bayly, to which I am now replying as arranged.

Although the enquiry is tied to the Vauxhall agreement which happened to hit the headlines, its real purpose appears to be to elicit the legal position, which I will briefly set out.

A "The standard restrictions on women's hours of work in the Factories Act 1961 inter alia have the effect of prohibiting both double day shift work and night work. However, it is possible to escape these prohibitions.

Section 97 of the Act empowers the Secretary of State to authorise the working of a double day shift within certain limits. Such authority requires a secret ballot of workers except in the case of a new factory; it is usually of indefinite duration.

Under Section 117 of the Act the Secretary of State has a much wider power of dispensation for the purpose of maintaining or increasing efficiency. After "such consultations as he may think appropriate" (this does not mean a secret ballot) he may make a special exemption order exempting workers at a particular establishment from any of the restrictions. Such orders are limited to a year but they may be and usually are renewed. It is by virtue of orders under Section 117 that women's night work comes to be permitted. Such an order was made for Vauxhall's, and it sets out the permitted times of work and intervals in full detail." It would not be in accordance with our practice to disclose the details of an order made in respect of a particular firm, but I think the purpose of the enquiry will be met if I give a general indication of our practice.

H

*1

c" Although it was not always so, nowadays an application for an order permitting night work for women is hardly ever refused, and we estimate that about 20,000 women are covered by such orders at the moment. Equal pay is not a prerequisite for making such an order. In broad terms, an application for an order permitting night work will normally be granted provided the women concerned are willing and their safety, health and welfare will not be jeopardised. In the latter connection the Factory Inspector is required to report whether the arrangements for supervision, messroom accommodation and hot refreshment, and transport are satisfactory. He will also comment on the merits of the actual scheme of hours proposed.