LABOUR (AMENDMENT) BILL

10.31 a.m.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move,

That leave be given to introduce a Bill to amend the Labour Ordinance, 1955 (No. 40 of 1955).

When this House passed the Labour Ordinance in 1955, it was its intention to give workmen seven full days' leave per year - seven full days not including Sunday or the rest day - and that intention was expressed in section 47 (1) of the Ordinance which reads as follows:

"Every workman shall be entitled to seven days' paid leave for every twelve months continuous service with the same employer after the coming into force of this Ordinance and such leave shall be in addition to the holidays to which such workman is entitled under section 46 of this Ordinance."

Sir, the art of draftsmanship is a very esoteric art and I do not pretend to be an expert in it. Unfortunately the draftsman of this Ordinance, who was supposed to have been an expert, should have expressed the intention of the Legislature accurately and precisely. A matter has now arisen in this way. The Singapore Chinese Printing Workers Union have had considerable correspondence with the employers as to the right of their workmen to have seven days' holiday not including the rest day or Sunday. The employers have sought legal advice and the advice they have received is that the Ordinance, as drafted, means seven days including the rest day or Sunday.

Now, Sir, the argument, very briefly, is this, that in section 48, where sick leave is mentioned, it is specifically stated in subsection (2), in the proviso thereto, that-

"no workman shall be entitled to paid sick leave on a rest day or on a holiday to which the workman is entitled under section 46 of this Ordinance or on any day of paid annual leave."

Therefore, by implication, since rest day is not mentioned in section 47 (1), but holidays is mentioned in section 47 (1), rest day is included as part of the seven days mentioned in section 47 (1).

I have written to the Ministry of Labour on this matter and their very unhelpful suggestion is that we should take the matter up in the High Court. That will cost a great deal of money and in my opinion the interpretation suggested by the managements' legal advisers is correct. We can obviate the difficulty which this bit of draftsmanship has created by adding in section 47 (1) words which will make it quite clear that the seven days are not to include holidays or rest days, and it is for this purpose that I am seeking leave to move a Bill to amend section 47 (1) of the Labour Ordinance.

The amendment will be in such terms-to alter the words at the end of the subsection so that it reads as follows:

"Every workman shall be entitled to seven days' paid leave for every twelve months continuous service with the same employer after the coming into force of this Ordinance and such leave shall be in addition to rest days and holidays to which such workman is entitled under section 41 and section 46 respectively of this Ordinance."

In those terms, there will not be any doubt whatsoever as to the right of a workman to be entitled to seven days not including holidays or rest days. Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move.

Mr Goh Chew Chua (Ponggol-Tampenis): Sir, I rise to second the motion and reserve my right to speak later.

Question proposed.

10.36 a.m.

The Minister for Labour and Welfare (Mr Lim Yew Hock): Mr Speaker, Sir, as Minister for Labour and Welfare I am in agreement with the amendment which the hon. Member seeks leave to introduce to the Labour Ordinance. In fact this is one of the amendments which will feature in a consolidated amending Bill now being prepared by my Ministry, the intention of the amendments being to remove certain anomalies which have since been discovered in the Labour Ordinance.

Sir, the amendment proposed by the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar, as he has already explained, will give seven days' paid annual leave. It has always been Government's intention to give seven days' leave all of which is to be paid; for these seven days the workman would be paid the amount which he would have received had he been at work. This is the principle followed elsewhere and is the simplest and fairest method of calculation. I might add, Sir, that this point was discussed at meetings of the Labour Advisory Board held in May and July.

Sir, the Government does not oppose the application for leave to introduce an amending Bill, but in the light of what I have mentioned, Sir - that the Labour Ministry has already set afoot an amending Bill (which may be introduced at the October sitting) - I wonder whether the hon. Member would leave his amendment to be incorporated into a Bill which could cover all amendments, instead of proceeding with amending the Labour Ordinance in a piecemeal way.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have no objections to having this amendment included with the other amendments which the Hon. Minister for Labour and Welfare seeks to move, but I am concerned that no move will be made until October. As I understand it from the replies given by the other Hon. Ministers when moving their Bills, the next sitting of the Assembly will be on 11th September. I therefore suggest, Mr Speaker, Sir, that for the purposes of my amendment, I table the Bill for First Reading but that it can be incorporated in the other amendments and then I shall abandon my Bill at a later stage.

Question put, and agreed to.

Mr Speaker: Who is prepared to introduce the Bill?

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: I, Sir. Mr Speaker, I beg to introduce a Bill intituled, "The Labour (Amendment) Ordinance".

Bill read the First time, to be read a Second time on Wednesday, 11th September, 1957, and to be printed.