Claims to the tribunal must be made within twelve months from the date on which the cause of action arose. Before hearing a claim, the presiding officers must be satisfied that conciliation to reach settlement has been attempted and has failed, or that one of the parties concerned has refused to take part in conciliation arranged by authorised officers under the Labour Tribunal Ordinance. These authorised officers are officers of the Labour Relations Service and the Overseas Employment Service of the Labour Department. The Labour Tribunal is hence complementary to the work of and in no way supersedes the existing conciliation services provided by the Labour Department. During the period under review the Labour Tribunal dealt with 19 253 cases, of which, 17 307 cases were referred to it by the Labour Department, and 1 346 cases were lodged by claimants directly with the tribunal.
QUESTION IV
There have been no decisions by courts of law or other courts regarding the application of this convention.
KA QUESTION V
As stated earlier, it is not customary for Chinese manual workers to sign written local contracts of employment. They are well aware of the provisions of the Employment Ordinance. No practical difficulties have been encountered with the Contracts for Overseas Employment Ordinance since it came into force on 1st November 1965, except that enforcement has been hindered by the lack of provision for penalties. (this point has now been covered by an amendment to the ordinance made after the conclusion of the report period). Eight copies of the Contract for Overseas Employment (Amendment) Ordinance are attached herewith.
UESTION VI
Copies of this report have been sent to the Employers' Federation of Hong Kong and the Labour Advisory Board which includes six workers'
representatives, and through the United Kingdom Deparment of Employment, to the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress of Great Britain.
No observations conceming the application of this convention in Hong Kong were received from any of the organisations of employers or workers during the period under review.
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FONG KONG
August 1985
R.G.B. BRIDGE
COMMISSIONER FOR LABOUR
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