Course Title: International Legal and Ethical Issues in Business
Assignment 1
Course Number: BUSN310
Instructor: Jarod Burch
Student: Clarence Bryant
Due Date: 10/13/2013
Hong Kong
1. Hong Kong has 7 main ordinances and regulations.
Air Pollution control
Water Pollution
Nosie Control
Wastes Disposal
Ozone Layer Protection
Environmental Impact Assessment
Dumping at Sea Ordinances
2. The minimum wage came into effect in Hong Kong on May 1, 2011. As the name of legislation implies employees to whom the MWO applies are entitled to be paid wages of at least the statutory minimum wages, which is currently set at HK$28 per hour.
3. The Environmental Protection Department takes the following pre-market measures: keeps a register of asbestos professionals, chemical waste producers and importers and exporters of ozone depleting substances; possesses applications for Noise Emission Label, Construction Noise Permit, chimney and furnace installations, drainage submissions, environmental permits for construction and operation of designated projects, and emission compliance letters for motor vehicles seeking first registration; issues licenses to chemical waste collection, treatment and disposal facilities, effluent discharges, specified air polluting processes and import and export of controlled ozone depleting substances; and issues permits to control dumping at sea activities, waste import and export activities (N.B. import/export of uncontaminated waste in the Sixth Schedule to the Waste Disposal Ordinance for the purpose of reprocessing, recycling, recovery or reuse is exempted)
Maintains a register of all approved emission reduction devices for scheduled motor vehicles under the Air Pollution Control (Emission Reduction Devices for Vehicles) Regulation.
4. The MWO applies to most full-time, part-time and casual employees, with the following exceptions:
Student interns;
Work experience students who have agreed to an exempted period of less than 60 days with their employers; and
Domestic workers who live free of charge in the household in which they work.
Employees with disabilities are entitled to the same minimum wage protection under the Ordinance. However, the MWO provides an arrangement whereby an employee with a disability whose productivity may be impaired by their disability can elect to have their productivity assessed to determine whether they should be remunerated at a rate no lower than the statutory minimum wage or at a rate commensurate with their productivity. Where an employee does not elect to undergo the assessment, they must be paid no lower than HK$28 per hour.
Under the MWO, wages payable to an employee in respect of any wage period should be no less than HK$28 per hour on average for the total number of hours worked (including any part of an hour). The wage period is the period in respect of which wages are payable, which in Hong Kong is usually one month. The formula for calculating the wage is total number of hours worked in a wage period.
To calculate the hours worked by an employee, an employer must include time during which the employee is physically at the workplace or travelling in connection with his or her employment. Normally, this would include the time during which an employee is receiving training or working overtime. Hours not worked, such as holidays or travelling time between an employee's home and the workplace, are excluded from the calculation of minimum wage and should not count towards the wages payable to the employee. However, employers should be aware that the question of what time should be included in the total number of hours worked by an employee must be determined by reference to the facts and circumstances of each individual case.
South Korea
1. The ministry of environment of South Korea, (MOE) classifies statues broadly into the following categories.
Natural Preservation
Environmental impact
