*********************************************
Following is the question by the Hon Emily Lau and a written reply by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, in the Legislative Council today (November 30):
Question:
Late last year, the Administration referred to the Labour Advisory Board ("LAB") for examination the subject on implementing the statutory minimum wage and standard working hours in Hong Kong, and indicated that, based on the outcome of the LAB's discussion, the subject would then be referred to the Economic and Employment Council ("EEC"), which is led by the Financial Secretary, for further deliberation. On the other hand, the Chief Executive stated in the middle of this month that consideration would be given to referring the subject to the Commission on Strategic Development ("the Commission") for discussion if the LAB could not reach any consensus on this subject by the middle of next year. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(a) as the Labour Department is inviting the public to express views on this subject through its web-site, of the channels provided for the public to understand the background to the above subject and the relevant arguments; and
(b) whether the functions of the EEC has been taken over by the Commission; if so, of the reasons; if not, why the subject would be referred to the Commission?
Reply
Madam President,
(a) The issues of minimum wage and standard working hours have been discussed by the Legislative Council (LegCo) and the LegCo Manpower Panel (the Panel) on various occasions in recent years. These include the motion debates on November 9 this year and October 13, 2004, an oral question on June 15, 2005, and discussion at two meetings of the Panel on November 4 and 18, 2004. The contents of these debates and discussion were widely reported by the media and the public can have access to the relevant records at the LegCo website. In inviting the public to express views on the subject through the Labour Department's website, our aim is to provide an additional platform to facilitate the public to give us their views on these issues.
(b) The four Committees of the Commission on Strategic Development (CSD) have held/will hold their first meetings in end-November/early December 2005. It has almost been two years since the establishment of the Economic and Employment Council (EEC) in January 2004. We consider that it is now an appropriate time to review its operational experience. In the course of the review, we will consider the way forward for the EEC and any scope for division of labour with other advisory committees/boards.
As regards the study on the issues of minimum wage and standard working hours, we believe that the Labour Advisory Board (LAB) is the appropriate forum for deliberation of the above issues and should be given sufficient time to consider the matter in depth. However, as some LegCo members and labour unions have urged the Administration to take the issues to the CSD for consideration, the Administration has indicated that it would be prepared to refer the matter to CSD should the LAB fail to reach a consensus in its discussion.
Ends/Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Issued at HKT 14:30
NNNN