ENG-1961 — Page 66

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EMPLOYMENT

varying between two and five years, rising to a maximum which approximates to that of an unskilled worker.

The widespread demands for increased wages throughout 1960, following Government's acceptance of the recommendations of the Salaries Commission and the introduction of new rates of pay for civil servants, were generally satisfied by the end of last year and 1961 proved a period of industrial peace. Only two demands for substantial wage increases were raised and both were satisfactorily settled early in the year. A shortage of labour, however, resulted in some wage increases. Normal wages for daily-rated workers ranged between:

Skilled

Semi-skilled... Unskilled

L

$8 to $21

$7 to $10

$3 to $ 8

Many employers provide their workers with additional benefits, including free accommodation, subsidized meals or food allow- ances, good attendance bonuses, and paid rest-days, while many employees receive a Chinese New Year bonus of one month's salary.

Working hours. There are no legal restrictions on the hours of work for men. Most of those in industry work for ten hours a day or less whilst civil servants and those employed in concerns operat- ing on Western lines, work only eight hours a day. Legislation made under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, 1955, provides for maximum daily hours, limited overtime, weekly rest days, and rest periods for women and young persons.

Young persons between the ages of 14 and 16 years may work only eight hours, with a break of one hour after five hours' con- tinuous work. Children under the age of 14 years are prohibited from working in industry and no woman or young person is allowed to work at night or underground.

Restrictions on the hours of work for women, introduced on 1st January 1959, have increasingly affected the working hours of men employed in the same concerns. During 1959, 81 cotton spinning, cotton weaving, and silk spinning mills adopted a system of three eight hour shifts. In 1960, the number increased to 97 and, at the end of 1961, 115 factories had introduced this system. It was estimated that by the end of 1961 24,798 men and 18,070 women were working eight hours a day.