64/€
Extract fa Legislative bruncil. Elemand
fi 11.9.1870
2.
DR CHUNG:--
Shift hours for women workers
Is Government aware that in the United Kingdom women working on shift system, even those on night shift (such as from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. at the Vauxhall motor factory), are permitted to have a period of employment of ten hours per shift whereas in Hong Kong the period of employment for women on shift systems, even those on morning and afternoon shifts, is limited to only eight hours?
MR HETHERINGTON:-Sir, the question refers to three separate aspects of the rather complicated subject of the conditions under which women are permitted to be employed on a system of shift work in factories in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.
Regarding shift work during the day in the United Kingdom, the conditions generally imposed by the Factories Acts, according to the latest information available to me, include the following restrictions. The hours of each shift may not exceed an average of eight a day. Exceptionally, they may be extended up to ten provided that the' work is not carried on on more than five days in each week. In these circumstances, total hours for each shift must not exceed 48 hours in one week or 88 hours in any period of two weeks, thus giving an average of 44 hours a week over the fortnight.
Regarding shift work during the night in the United Kingdom, I have only limited information. I understand that it was permitted in the Vauxhall motor plants following a collective agreement, made in November last year, between the management and trade unions rep- resenting the workers and approved by a superintending inspector of factories within the framework of the Factories Acts. The agree- ment included a condition that women working at night should be paid at the same rates as men. It is proposed to request the Secretary
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