TNAG-0531-FCO40-626-Application-of-International-Labour-Convention-to-Hong-Kong-1975 — Page 10

BY BAG

FM FCO 1630172 ·

UNCLASSIFIED

SAVING TELEGRAM

(HXL 7/393/5)

65

TC HONG KONG TELNO 81 SAVING OF 19 NOVEMBER 1975.

YOUR SAVING TELEGRAM NO. 212 OF 4 NOVEMBER 1975.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONVENTION NO. 14.

1.

RE

31

23 DLC,775

Paragraph 1 of Article 2 specifically requires that all staff in industrial undertakings should "enjoy in every period of seven days a period of rest comprising at least 24 consecutive hours". while it is agreed that the wording in our saving telegram no 57 of 20 August may have been misleading in regard to the existing legal provision that a rest day should constitute 24 consecutive hours, the alternative proposed in your paragraph 3 does not take into account the requirement of paragraph 1 of Article 2 in regard to the periodicity of the rest days. Unless it is made plain that the four statutory rest days in each month are not necessarily taken at 7 day intervals there would be no apparent reason for the modification. We propose that the wording should be amended to read:

"Other workers have a statutory entitlement to 4 rest days in each month. Under Section 2 of the Employment Ordnance (Cap 57) 'rest day' is defined to mean a continuous period of not less than 24 hours but there is no statutory requirement that these rest days must be taken at seven day intervals".

CALLAGHAN

FILES

GGD

SIR D WATSON

1