ENG-1981 — Page 86

EMPLOYMENT

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allow independent professional persons to have access to information on construction contracts for the purpose of assisting the Construction Industry Training Authority in assessing the real value of contracts.

The law provides, among other benefits, statutory holidays with pay, sick leave, sickness allowance, rest days and seven days annual leave with pay for most employees. All em- ployees have statutory protection against anti-union discrimination. The law also provides for severance payment to workers made redundant.

The maximum fines provided in 19 sets of regulations made under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance were increased. A new set of regulations was intro- duced to provide improved fire safety precautions in registrable workplaces.

As a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong is not a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and is not called upon to ratify any International Labour Conventions which set international labour standards. However, the United Kingdom Government makes declarations on behalf of Hong Kong with regard to the application of conventions it ratifies. This is done after full consultation with the Hong Kong Government.

By the end of 1981, Hong Kong had applied 47 conventions, which exceeded the number ratified by most member nations.

Wages and Conditions of Work

There is no statutory minimum wage rate in Hong Kong. The wage level prevailing is essentially the result of an interplay of the economic forces of supply and demand.

Wage rates are usually calculated on a time basis such as hourly, daily or monthly, or on an incentive basis depending on the volume of work performed. The pay period is normally 10 or 15 days for daily-rated and piece-rated workers. Most semi-skilled and unskilled workers in the manufacturing industries are piece-rated, although daily rates of pay are also common. Monthly-rated industrial workers are usually employed in the skilled trades or in technical and supervisory capacities. Men and women receive the same rate for piece-work, but women are generally paid less when working on a time-basis.

Although wage rates of manufacturing workers continued to increase in money terms during 1981, wage rates in real terms did not rise appreciably because of the rate of inflation and the continuing growth in the supply of labour due to the direct and indirect effects of recent immigration. At the same time, the growth rate of demand for labour in the manufacturing sector was slowing down as a result of unfavourable economic conditions in Hong Kong's major markets. By September, average daily wage rates (excluding fringe benefits) had increased by 142 per cent on the base period of July, 1973 to June, 1974. During the same time, the Consumer Price Index went up by 84 per cent, resulting in an increase of 32 per cent for the index of real average daily wage rates.

A Consumer Price Index (A), based on a household expenditure survey conducted from July, 1973 to June, 1974, was compiled as an indication of the effect of price changes on households spending $400 to $1,499 a month in 1973-4. In December, 1981, this index stood at 192 (see Appendix 16). Consumer Price Index (B) showed the effect of price changes on households spending $1,500 to $2,999 a month in 1973–4.

A new Consumer Price Index was introduced in 1981 to replace the old one. The new Consumer Price Index (A) covers about 50 per cent of urban households in Hong Kong, with a monthly expenditure of between $1,000 and $3,499 in the base period of October 1979 to September 1980. The new Consumer Price Index (B) covers about 30 per cent of