CONFIDENTIAL
19. The second amendment to the Workmen's Compensation Ordinance will provide for the payment of compensation to workmen, or their dependants, for incapacity or death resulting from pneumoconiosis, a term covering diseases of the lung including silicosis and asbestosis. (I have been asked for advice as to which dust-caused diseases are classified in the United Kingdom under the term "pneumoconiosis" and this will be provided). The Bill is expected to be considered by Executive Council and the Finance Committee in May and by the Legislative Council in June. If enacted, the Ordinance would enable a declaration to be made applying Inter- national Labour Convention No. 42, Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) to Hong Kong without modification. Present proposals contemplate that the amending Ordinance would establish a statutory compensation fund to which employers in the industries concerned would contribute through a compulsory insurance scheme. If approved by Executive and Legislative Councils, the obligations to be undertaken by the Hong Kong Government under the scheme would represent a major contribution to solving the problems which have delayed for the past 10 years or so the introduction of compensation for victims of silicosis. No cases of asbestosis have yet been identified.
THE LABOUR TRIBUNAL
20. The Labour Tribunal, which is part of the Judiciary, has proved very successful and procedures for referring claims by the Labour Relations Service of the Labour Department to the Tribunal are working smoothly. The object of the Tribunal is to provide a quick, inexpensive and informal means of settling disputes involving claims for money between workers and employers arising from breaches of contract or the provisions of the Employment Ordinance.
21. The Tribunal was established in April 1973 and the volume of work increased so rapidly that a second Tribunal was created in February 1974 and a third in July 1975. During the first year of operation (April 1973 to March 1974) the Tribunal dealt with 1,168 claims: during the current year ending on 31 March 1978 the three courts expect to deal with 2,800 cases. Moreover, many of the cases are now increasingly difficult since they involve disputes arising out of complex labour legislation of recent years, especially those relating to Severance Allowance and contractors' liability. The ability of the Tribunal to dispose quickly of cases has also been affected in many instances by the need to use interpreters and the fact that a large proportion of claims are submitted by groups rather than individuals. The consequence is that each of the three courts can deal on average with only four cases a day and the backlog of claims to be dealt with has grown from 47 as at 1 August 1977 to 190 at the end of February 1978. Cases transferred from the Labour Department's Labour Relations Service to the Tribunal must now be made the subject of an appointment one or two months ahead and there is a growing possibility that the Tribunal may not only be unable to fulfil its original purpose of disposing of cases quickly but some claims might not be dealt with within the 6-month statutory time bar.
7
CONFIDENTIAL
/The President
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