Labour Department (Hong Kong)
| 勞工處 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1940 |
| Jurisdiction | Hong Kong |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Labour and Welfare Bureau |
| Website | www |
The Labour Department (LD, Chinese: 勞工處) is a department of the government of Hong Kong, responsible for administrating labours and enhancing the wellbeing of Hong Kong's workforce.
History
Henry Butters was appointed the first Labour Officer (Chinese: 勞工主任 or 勞工官 or 勞工司) in 1938 when the Hong Kong government was forced by London to give attention to the Chinese child labour.[1] The Labour Department (Chinese: 勞工署 or 勞工處) was formally established in 1940 under the administration of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. The department is headed by a Labour Officer, tasked with securing the wellbeing of the workforce and act as a mediator between workers and businesses. It expanded in the 1940s to cater the increasing need,[2] but fell dormant during the Japanese occupation between 1941 and 1945.
In 1947, the Labour Department was reformed into an independent agency led by a Commissioner of Labour (renamed Commissioner for Labour in 1974). The duties of this new unit enlarged quickly after the war; in 1961, over 230,000 labours from more than 6,000 factories were administered by the department.[3]
Labour Department was later placed under the Education and Manpower Bureau, and under the Economic Development and Labour Bureau in 2002 following a governmental reorganisation, before being handed to the Labour and Welfare Bureau in 2007.
List of heads
- Henry Butters (1938–39)
- Edward Irvine Wynne-Jones (1939–40)
- B. C. K. Hawkins (1940–41, 1945–46, 1946–55)
- Quentin Allison Ashby Macfadyen (1946, 1955)
- P. C. M. Sedgwick (1955–65)
- Robert Marshall Hetherington (1965–71)
- Paul Tsui Ka-cheung (1971–73)
- Ian Robert Price (1973–77)
- Peter Barry Williams (1977–78)
- James Neil Henderson (1978–83)
- Ronald Bridge (1983–86)
- Joseph Charles Anthony Hammond (1986–91)
- Darwin Chen Tat-man (1991–92)
- Katherine Fok (1992–94)
- Stephen Ip (Dec 1994–Mar 1996)
- Jacqueline Ann Willis (April 1994 – January 1999)
- Matthew Cheung (January 1999 – June 2000, July 2003 – March 2007)
- Pamela Tan Kam Mi-wah (June 2000 – June 2003)
- Paul Tang (April 2007 – June 2007)
- Cherry Tse Ling Kit-ching (July 2007 – November 2010)
- Cheuk Wing-hing (November 2010 – February 2014)
- Donald Tong Chi-keung (March 2014 – September 2016)
- Carlson Chan Ka-shun (October 2016 – December 2020)
- Chris Sun (December 2020 – June 2022)
- May Chan Wing-shiu (September 2022 – June 2025)
- Sam Hui Chark-shum (July 2025 –)
References
- ^ Yip, Ka-che; Leung, Yuen Sang; Wong, Man Kong Timothy (2016). Health Policy and Disease in Colonial and Post-Colonial Hong Kong, 1841-2003. Routledge. p. 40.
- ^ "本港勞工署組織擴大 勞工司與記者之談話" [Labour department expands and labour secretary spoke with reporters]. The Chinese Mail. 1940-03-24.
- ^ "勞工處的工作 處長石智益在電台播講" [Commissioner spoke on Labour Department's work on radio]. Kung Sheung Daily News. 1961-06-28.