Item I(b)
Item I(c)
Item II
Item III
Item IV
Item V(a)
Item V(b)
Item V(c)
Item VI(a)
Item VI(b)
Item VII(a),
Labour Legislation
explanatory narrative
The Employment (Amendment) Bill which will provide all employees with one rest day in every seven days with effect from 1st January 1977, is supported by the Labour Advisory Board and employers' associations. A draft bill has been prepared and it will be considered by the Executive Council on 26th October 1976.
The Labour Advisory Board will consider at its meeting on 19th October, the text of the draft Employment (Amendment) Bill 1976 which will provide paid annual leave to all employees covered by this ordinance. The Board's advice is sought only on the modalities of the Bill as the Government is firmly committed to its introduction.
Further views are awaited from employers' associations on the draft Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Amendment) Regulations, which will abolish by annual stages overtime for young persons in industrial employment by 1st January 1980. Resistance from employers is anticipated.
The Employment (Amendment) Bill, which proposes to increase the maximum number of sickness days which can be accumulated from 24 to 36 and to increase sickness allowance from half day's wages to two-thirds of a day's wages, has been agreed by the Labour Advisory Board. Views of some employers' associations are awaited.
Drafting instructions are being considered for the Employment (Amendment) Bill, which is designed to improve further the provisions on severance pay. The Labour Advisory Board was consulted on 24th August 1976 and generally agreed to the proposals. Meanwhile the major employers' associations are being consulted.
Pending one final point to be resolved, draft drafting instructions on the Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Bill 1976 which requires employers to bear the cost of medical expenses and the replacement of prosthesis and surgical appliances should be finalised within a reasonably short time.
At its next meeting on 19th October 1976 the Labour Advisory Board will consider the principles involved in the Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Bill which proposes, inter alia, to raise the wage ceiling of the Workmen's Compensation Ordinance.
The Accident Insurance Association has been asked to confirm its agreement in writing to the payment of compensation for workers suffering from silicosis and asbestosis in order that the advice of Executive Council can be sought to introduce this compensation scheme on 1st April 1977.
The third draft of the Employment (Amendment) Bill, which will provide protection of wages by imposing a vicarious liability on principal contractors in the building and construction industry, is awaited.
Draft amendment bills are being finalised in respect of amendments to the Bankruptcy Ordinance and the Companies Ordinance which are designed to give priority to claims for wages in lieu of notice and workmen's compensation payments over secured debts.
The Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Guarding and Operation of Machinery) Regulations 1976, which provide for the guarding of dangerous machinery and parts thereof, were made by the Commissioner for Labour on 26th July 1976 and approved by resolution of the Legislative Council on 4th August 1976. These regulations will be brought into effect from 1st April 1977.
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