TNAG-2512-FCO40-3665-Future-of-Hong-Kong-International-Rights-and-Obligations-(IR-1992 — Page 15

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children.

4

Some of then may wish to re-enter the labour market by the time their children are going to school. skills

Their may need to be updated in view of technological developments. It is recommended that this need should be taken into account in devising ratraining displaced employees.

programmes for

SEX DISCRIMNATION LEGISLATION

Overseas Experience

14.

The Working Group has reviewed

the practices and

of a few Western countries (including the United

several of our the Republic of . While most of these

experience Kingdom, Australia, and Canada) and neighboring countries (including Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan). countries have some form of equal pay or anti-discrimination legislation, their laws differ in scope and im operation..

15.

In

In terms of scope, Western countries usually have sex discrimination legislation which covers not employment field but

only the also, other areas like advertising, provision Of goods and services and access to credit, Asia, Japan and Korea have laws dealing with equal employment opportunities and treatment Taiwan,

generally while legislation in for example, is limited to providing for equal pay for the same job.

16.

As

for implementation, there are approaches which are not necessarily mutually exclusive -

three general

(a)

(b)

(c)

а "soft" or "mediation-oriented" exemplified by

approach as the Japanese Equal Employment Opportunity Law which only requires employers to "make efforts" to realize the principle of equality.

There is no penalty for non- compliance and disputes are settled only through mediation;

a

more adversarial approach which gives complainants the right to seek redress through

OF tribunals.

Western countries (including the UK) have generally adopted this approach; and

courts

a punitive approach which imposes penalties (imprisonment or fines) on employers who violate some important provisions like equal pay for equal Work. resort when mediation provisions.)

This is usually a last fails. (Korea has such

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Arguments