TNAG-0569-FCO40-702-Planning-paper-on-Hong-Kong-1976 — Page 124

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insurance. With an increasing likelihood of significant

fluctuations in world trade in the future and the total dependence of Hong Kong on world trading conditions the experiences of Hong Kong during the recent recession suggest that some more effective social security arrangement is highly desirable. Certainly the introduction of a contributory scheme in Hong Kong, if it proved feasible, would in time provide budgetary relief for social welfare. Alternatively it would make possible more generous provision for those who fall through the safety net of a contributory

scheme.

The

12. And finally there is the field of labour standards where improvements could be affected as a direct charge on industry and without fiscal impositions from the colonial Government at all. Government have produced arguments in defence of the present state of affairs, mainly based on the need to remain competitive and the difficulty of enforcement. In this context it is often suggested that Hong Kong workers enjoy the second highest wage rates in the region after Japan. This however seems to be assumed on the wage statistics compiled from a small sample of wages paid by the larger firms. It is possible that only a wider sampling technique would reveal whether they are accurate or not. Also by comparison with some of Hong Kong's Asian neighbours and commerical competitors, there appear to be other grounds for criticism, namely:-

(a) the absence of statutory minimum wages for low-paid occupations. (This was considered by the Hong Kong Government in the face of the drop in real wages during 1974 but rejected on a number of grounds, principally that it would be difficult to police and of little practical advantage to workers.)

(b) the absence of limitations on the hours of work of males or of statutory provision for proper overtime rates;

(c)

poor provision for statutory holidays with pay: increased next year to 10 as compared with, say 11 in Singapore, 13 in Taiwan and 12 in Indonesia. There is no provision for paid vacation leave, which exists in all the countries mentioned here although it is hoped to introduce a week's paid leave in 1978.

6 being

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/(a)