01 perspective
Written by: Comment Editor
2019-12-19 17:49
Last updated: 2019-12-19 17:50On Wednesday (18th), the Labour Advisory Board (hereinafter referred to as the "LAB") discussed a uniform holiday. With the separate opinions of labor and management, the meeting did not reach any consensus. As a mature economy, Hong Kong lags far behind in labor protection. As in earlier years of discussions on standard working hours and paternity leave for men, the reason for this is closely related to the system design of the LAB. If the Hong Kong Government really intends to improve labor protection, it must abandon its current role of "middleman" and go to the front to promote policy reform.
At present, the holidays of wage earners can be divided into two types: statutory holidays (labor leave) and public holidays (bank leave). The former is stipulated under the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57), that is, employees can enjoy statutory holidays of 12 days per year regardless of their length of service. The latter is based on the Public Holidays Ordinance. Wage earners can enjoy a 17-day public holiday, which all banks, educational institutions, public agency offices, and government departments must abide by (also many private companies voluntarily implement bank leave). However, even though many white-collar workers currently enjoy 17 days of public holidays, a large number of blue-collar workers only enjoy 12 days of statutory holidays.
At present, the holidays of wage earners can be divided into two types: statutory holidays (labor leave) and public holidays (bank leave). (Profile picture)
Labor and management
In the discussion on the uniform holiday, the representative of the management and the chairman of the Federation of Industries, Guo Zhenhua, believed that the number of holiday days should be determined by market principles and cited the weak economic data in recent months to emphasize the negative impact of the uniform holiday on the management. Although Deng Jiabiao, the representative of the labor union and the Federation of Trade Unions, agrees that Hong Kong's economy is getting worse, he also emphasizes that the government must take responsibility and take the lead in promoting reforms. As the government announced earlier, non-civil service contract employees will enjoy 17 days a year. public holiday. However, with the two parties holding their own words, the meeting finally closed again.
The management objected to the increase in statutory holidays for reasons other than rising costs. According to the government's holiday survey forecast (but it has not been updated since the second quarter of 2011), adjusting labor leave and bank leave to the same level, the annual additional cost is 1.83 billion yuan, so that many employers of small and medium enterprises not only Feeling unbearable, it may also weaken Hong Kong's competitiveness. However, in addition to the existing research that proves that increasing statutory holidays and productivity are not necessarily inversely related, improving labor benefits also has many non-monetary measurable advantages, such as promoting holiday consumption, increasing employee morale, and reducing the chance of injury due to work Therefore, when discussing the number of days of statutory holidays, it should be reviewed with the overall employment environment.
Guo Zhenhua (right), representative of the LAB's management and chairman of the Federation of Industries (photo by Huang Yongyu)
The LAB ditched the discussion
Although the government has introduced a five-day work week since 2006, the working hours of wage earners in Hong Kong are still among the best in the world. According to statistics from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and local governments, the average weekly working hours in Hong Kong in 2018 was 42 hours, which is only second to Singapore, but far from some advanced places, such as Germany (35 hours), the United Kingdom (36 hours) and the United States (37 hours) are long. What's more, the situation of extremely long working hours is mainly concentrated in industries that fail to enjoy bank leave, such as security, property management, residential care homes for the elderly and the catering sector. Therefore, in the case of long-term discussions on standard working hours, a uniform vacation really helps alleviate the current situation of double exploitation of workers.
To solve the problem of inadequate labor protection, we must finally face up to the system flaws of the LAB. The LAB, as a non-statutory organization, generally advises the Commissioner for Labour on labour matters. The Commission is chaired by the Commissioner for Labour. It has a total of 12 non-official members who are each represented by six representatives of employers and employees. From past experience, many labor policies, such as standard working hours and paternity leave for men, have been consulted by the Government before considering them for consideration by the Legislative Council.
In the seemingly fair system design, the actual effectiveness of the LAB is like an "urban forum", and it is often difficult to reach consensus on labor issues. Even though the labor and management sides each have half the number of members, the forces seem to be equal, but the capitalist representatives who rely on corporate profits are not only opposed to any suggestions to improve labor rights, but also often responded with "drag words", as is the case. Standard working hours and overtime hydration have remained in the "discussion stage" for many years. Therefore, if the government continues to rely on the LAB with its inherent flaws to "agree on consensus," it is determined to promote labor rights reforms, and the result is as difficult as it has been in the past 20 years. Conversely, under the dictates of both labor and management, the Hong Kong Government has taken the role of "middleman" aside and taken the initiative to examine the working environment and treatment of workers and guide public opinion. This can really benefit workers.
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