ENG-1983 — Page 86

EMPLOYMENT

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benefits has been conducted recording wage rate statistics for non-manual workers in the manufacturing industries as well as for manual workers and non-manual workers in the non-manufacturing industries.

The Employment of Children Regulations made under the Employment Ordinance prohibit the employment of children under the age of 15 in any industrial undertakings. Children aged 13 or above may be permitted to work in non-industrial establishments subject to very stringent conditions aimed at ensuring their education to Form 3 and at protecting their health, safety and welfare.

Under the Women and Young Persons (Industry) Regulations, young people aged 15 to 17 and women are permitted to work a maximum of eight hours a day, six days a week. A meal or rest break of at least 30 minutes must be given to women and young people aged 16 and 17 after five hours of continuous work. In the case of young people under the age of 16, the break must not be less than one hour. Overtime employment for women is restricted to 200 hours a year, while young people are not permitted to work overtime. In addition, work for all young people may not start earlier than 7 a.m. nor end later than 7 p.m. while work for women may not start earlier than 6 a.m. nor end later than 8 p.m. The regulations also prohibit the employment of women and young people working at night, underground or in dangerous trades. However, some large factories - mostly those engaged in cotton spin- ning - have been granted special permission to employ women at night, subject to certain stringent conditions.

Since November 1980, the Labour Inspectorate of the Labour Department has taken on responsibility for enforcing certain sections of the Immigration Ordinance in respect of the requirements that all employees must carry their proof of identity and that employers must maintain up-to-date employees' records in order to help discover illegal immigrants. Employers are prohibited from employing anyone who does not possess a valid proof of identity and those Vietnamese refugees who have been prohibited from being employed under the ordinance.

In 1983, the Labour Inspectorate made 307 703 day and night inspections to places of employment which included both industrial and commercial establishments. Three special campaigns were conducted against the employment of children and illegal immigrants, covering 25 144 establishments. During the year, 198 cases of child employment involving 198 children were brought before the courts.

Under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Regulations, no male employee may be employed to work underground in mines, quarries and industrial undertakings involving tunnelling operations unless he has been medically examined and certified fit for such work. Those under 21 have to be medically re-examined each year.

Trade Unions

Trade unions in Hong Kong must be registered under the Trade Unions Ordinance administered by the Registrar of Trade Unions. Once registered, they are corporate bodies and enjoy immunity from certain civil suits.

During the year, nine new unions were registered, of which three were formed by civil servants. At the end of the year, there was a total of 430 unions comprising 382 employees' unions with about 353 140 members, 34 merchants or employers' organisations with some 3 180 members, 14 mixed organisations of employees and employers with about 26 180 members and a trade union federation of three employees' unions.

About half of the employees' unions are either affiliated to, or associated with, one of the two local societies registered under the Societies Ordinance - the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions and the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council.