ENG-1958 — Page 44

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

and piece-rated workers to be paid at weekly or fortnightly intervals. Most unskilled workers employed as general labour are on daily rates of pay, as are a considerable number of skilled and semi-skilled operatives in industry. The majority of industrial production process workers are, however, paid on piece rates. Both men and women receive the same piece rates, but in general men receive slightly higher monthly or daily rates than women engaged on the same work. Pay for learners in trades where a period of in-plant training is necessary is frequently below the unskilled rates, but wages rise rapidly with increases in skill.

No significant changes in wage rates were observed during the year. This reflected the continuing stability in the cost of living. The wage range for daily-rated workers was estimated as:

Skilled workmen

Semi-skilled workmen

Unskilled workmen

$7 to $12 a day

$4 to $8 a day $2.50 to $6 a day

A bonus of one month's wages is paid at Chinese New Year in many concerns.

Some firms provide free food and accommodation for their regular employees. Others provide canteens, from which food and other necessities are supplied at subsidized rates, thus giving their workers partial protection against rises in the cost of living. The Government, most European concerns, and some Chinese concerns run on Western lines pay a basic wage, together with a variable cost of living allowance to compensate for price fluctuations. The allowances paid are based on the Retail Price Index, compiled and published monthly by the Commerce and Industry Depart-

ment.

Working Hours. Consideration has been given for some time to the introduction of legislation providing minimum standards of conditions of employment in local industry, and, in particular, limitation of the hours of work. Surveys were made during the first half of the year of the hours worked by both men and women in all types of industrial undertaking. The normal daily hours of work in local industry, exclusive of overtime and rest periods, were found to average 9 hours for men and 91⁄2 hours for women. Approximately 65% of all women workers and over 70% of all male workers, work 10 hours or less per day. The 48-hour week