TNAG-0872-FCO40-1082-Legislation-for-employment-in-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 19

A BILL

To

Enclosure No4

Amend the Labour Tribunal Ordinance.

Enacted by the Governor of Hong Kong, with the advice and con- sent of the Legislative Council thereof.

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Labour Tribunal (Amend- Short title. ment) Ordinance 1979.

2. Section 9 of the principal Ordinance is amended by deleting Amendment of the figure "6" in each place where it occurs in subsections (1) and (2) section 9. and substituting the following-

"12".

(Cap. 25.)

3. (1) If the cause of action in a claim or part of a claim arose Transitional. more than 6 months before the commencement of this Ordinance, then notwithstanding section 2 the tribunal shall not have jurisdiction under section 9(1) of the principal Ordinance as amended by this Ordinance, to inquire into, hear or determine such claim or part of a claim unless the parties to the claim agree or have agreed, in either case, in the manner provided in section 9(1) of the principal Ordinance that the tribunal shall have jurisdiction.

(2) Where the tribunal by reason of subsection (1) has no jurisdic- tion over part of a claim, it may, with the consent of the parties, sever that part of the claim over which it has no jurisdiction and hear and determine the part over which it has jurisdiction.

Explanatory Memorandum

The object of this Bill is to extend the period within which claims may be filed with the Labour Tribunal. At present, in the absence of an agreement by the parties to give jurisdiction to the Tribunal, a claim must be filed within 6 months of the date when the cause of action arose. In practice this limitation restricts the filing of some types of claim, for example, claims in respect of leave pay or bonuses. Claimants must then proceed in other courts, even though the practice and procedure of the Tribunal is best suited to their claims. Accordingly clause 2 of the Bill extends the limitation period in section 9 of the Ordinance from 6 months to 12.

Clause 3 is a transitional provision to prevent the extended period from applying to a claim where, at the commencement of the amending Ordinance, the cause of action is already more than 6 months old.

The Bill has no significant financial or staffing implications.