Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

Labour Statistics Convention, 1985 (No. 160) - Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Ratification: 1997)

1. The Committee has noted the Government's first and second reports. It recalls that the Convention was declared applicable to Hong Kong with modifications, and wishes to point out the following.

Article 9(1) of the Convention. The declared modification is that statistics of average earnings are not compiled. The Committee however notes that statistics of "median" monthly earnings are compiled, and draws the Government's attention to the fact that the measure "median" fully conforms to the international guidelines, which do not require the compilation of arithmetic averages. This point, therefore, should not be considered as a limitation to the acceptance of Article 9(1). However, please refer to the question of scope raised under Article 17 below.

Article 10. It was declared as modification that statistics of wage distribution were not compiled. The Committee draws the Government's attention to the distinction between the terms "wage structure" (i.e. composition of earnings) and "wage distribution" (i.e. distribution of employees according to levels of earnings and hours of work). It notes that statistics of wage distribution are in fact compiled and published in Hong Kong, while statistics on the composition (i.e. structure) of earnings of employees are not compiled.

Article 11. Regarding the modification that statistics of labour cost are not compiled, the Committee recalls that statistics of compensation of employees, which are available concerning Hong Kong, are accepted as a proxy to statistics of labour cost and that their compilation is sufficient for the acceptance of Article 11.

2. The Committee also requests the Government to supply information on the following points.

Article 2. The Committee notes the Government's general indication to the effect that due consideration has been given to the recommendations and standards of the ILO regarding the statistics covered by the Convention. It requests the Government to indicate more specifically for each of Articles of Part II applicable to Hong Kong, whether the latest ILO standards and guidelines have been followed and the reasons for any departures from them. For example, regarding Article 7, please state whether it is intended to apply the revised classification, i.e. the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC-Rev.3) and the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88).

Article 3. The Committee notes the reference in the report to the consultations with labour unions as regards the consumer price index and also to those concerning establishment surveys statistics. It requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the consultation with the representative organizations of employers and workers, in particular, with regard to statistics not referred to in the report, such as those of occupational injuries and occupational diseases, and those of industrial disputes.

Article 10. With reference to the above comment on the declared modification concerning the application of this Article, the Committee requests the Government to indicate what measures it intends to take to compile and publish statistics on the structure (composition) of earnings of employees.

Article 17. The Committee notes from the first report that the statistics covered by Article 9(1) are compiled and published regarding all persons employed and not separately for employees. Recalling that the requirement of this provision of the Convention is the compilation and publication of statistics of earnings and hours of employees, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to compile and publish such statistics of employees separately from the other categories of persons employed.