11.
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In the field of labour standards the Colonial
Government fully accepts the need for improvements though it argues the importance of proceeding gradually, both because
of the mass of legislation involved and in order to allow
industry to adjust without losing its competitive edge.
this context, a recent survey by the Hong Kong Labour Department
supports the view that Hong Kong workers enjoy the highest
disposable incomes in Asia after Japan, though the absence
of accurate and detailed comparative statistics suggests
that this should be regarded as only a tentative conclusion.
Accepting it, however, there are still grounds for criticism,
by comparison with some of Hong Kong's Asian competitors:-
(a) the absence of statutory minimum wages for low-paid
occupations. (This was considered by the Hong Kong Government
in the face of the drop in real wages during 1974 but rejected
on a number of grounds, principally that it would be difficult
to police and of little practical advantage to workers);
(b) the absence of limitations on the hours of work of males
or of statutory provision for overtime rates;
(c) poor provision for statutory holidays with pay: 6 being
increased next year to 10 as compared with, say 11 in Singapore,
13 in Taiwan and 12 in Indonesia. There is no provision for paid
vacation leave, which exists in all the countries mentioned here although it is hoped to introduce a week's paid leave in 1978;
(a) the provision of four rest days a month to manual workers
and not, as required by the International Labour Convention, one
rest day per week; it is intended to introduce this in 1977.
12.
Even Hong Kong's critics acknowledge the valuable role played by the Government's Labour Department in the improvement of working conditions in recent years; but they remain convinced that more should be done. It must, however, not be forgotten
that all social progress depends upon Hong Kong's success
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