CONFIDENTIAL
25. The enquiries made so far reveal that Hong Kong's competitors do not restrict overtime for women but they do not permit it at all in respect of young persons. Overtime is already prohibited by law in Hong Kong for those aged 14 to 15. Young persons aged 16 and 17 are subject to the current limitation of overtime i.e. to not move than 300 hours. The alternatives are therefore either
(a) to prohibit overtime altogether for the 16 and 17 year old
worker in industry (male and female), or
(b)
to carry out the progressive reduction of overtime to the 100 hours maximum as on the basis agreed in 1967.
Of these two alternatives, the latter would seem to offer the least prospect of disruption of existing and well understood arrangements in the factories. But the present overall maximum of 300 hours should be modified one way or the other as quickly as possible. 26. As mentioned in my 1971 Report, it is not possible to show exactly how many women and young persons actually work overtime. No individual records are kept and the existing statistics are inadequate since they show an optimum (and much exaggerated) figure i.e. the total number employed in a factory working overtime, even though only a proportion of the women and young persons may be, in fact, working overtime. Two representatives of the Chinese Manu- facturers Association, with whom the question was raised, secned to indicate that opposition to the keeping of individual records may be less than has so far been assumed. This could perhaps be pursued further by the Commissioner of Labour.
Night Work for Women
27.
The embargo on the employment of women at night was relaxed in 1970. Approximately 700 women are so employed but their employment is subject to stringent protective conditions laid down by the Commissioner of Labour. Pressure for relaxation of these conditions is now less persistent. It is the view of the
Commissioner of Labour, with which I concur, that no change be made in the present arrangements.
Child Employment in Industry
28.
Press criticisms have much exaggerated the problem of the employment of children in industry. The Department of Labour has conducted a series of campaigns through its Women and Young Persons Unit (the 13th such campaign is current under way) and the number cf
· offences discovered do not support allegations of widespread mal- practices. During the 12th campaign, för example, 37 labour inspectors visited 5,759 industrial undertakings, which represented about one-fifth of all the 27,178 industrial establishments recorded with this Unit at the end of November 1973.
It was
It is not clear whether all adopt the same definition of
woman'. In Hong Kong's legislation it is a female of 18 and over.
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