16 Dec 2009

Members' Motions 'Urging the Government to promote a new occupational culture campaign for work-life balance’

President, I speak in support of the original motion proposed by Mr CHAN Kin-por. As mentioned by Mr CHAN Kin-por, the opportunities for upward social mobility are reducing, especially the younger generation ― the promotion opportunities are drastically reduced, coupled with heavy work pressure, they easily develop a sense of failure in work and life.

I am deeply impressed after listening to these words. It is because in my accountancy sector, quite a number of young accountants have shared with me similar experiences and feelings. However, it is a characteristic of the accountancy sector that there are a lot of deadlines. As for releasing the results of a listed company, we should meet the strict deadline set by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited; as for conducting merger and acquisition activities, we should meet a fixed date of transaction set by our client. Therefore, pressure at work faced by those engaging in the accountancy sector is in fact very heavy, and their working hours are also very long. During the election of the Legislative Council last year, I had proposed that various sectors should place more emphasis on work-life balance, hoping that employers could introduce more family-friendly employment measures. Moreover, they should be more concerned about their staff and allow them time to take a rest upon completion of jobs with deadlines. I also reminded people of various sectors that they should put more emphasis on striking a balance between life and health.

As proposed in the original motion, the Government should take the lead in promoting a new occupational culture, so as to encourage enterprises to implement a flexible leave policy. We have a recent example for reference. That is, the SAR Government of this term has introduced the five-day work week.

In fact, before announcing the implementation plan, we had a long discussion on this issue in society, but not much progress could be made. However, since the Government had introduced such a measure, many enterprises did follow. As such, we have more time to handle our personal affairs, stay with our family members, pursue further studies or take part in social services. This can be regarded as a benevolent measure. In view of this, if the Government is willing to take the lead in promoting a campaign which is beneficial to the employment relationship, instant effects can be achieved. From this example and those given by Mr CHAN Kin-por just now, in which he has mentioned the situation in Singapore and Germany as well as his working experience, what can we see? We can see that as for this subject, the culture and atmosphere in the whole community is very important. In this regard, I consider that apart from the promotion made by the Government, large enterprises should also take the initiative and make more efforts as well.

After the outbreak of financial tsunami, some unscrupulous employers fished in troubled waters. They requested their staff to prolong working hours without giving them any additional pay and even exploited their rest time which they were entitled to. Such acts were not only unacceptable, but should also be harshly denounced. Some companies even forced their staff to take no-pay leave. Amid the financial tsunami, companies had to introduce some saving measures in order to survive. This would give no cause for criticism. However, my major point is, while introducing these measures, they should discuss with their staff, hoping that a mutual understanding could be achieved in the process. Moreover, appropriate flexibility should also be adopted in the implementation, with a view to reducing the impact brought about by these measures on their staff.

Very often, the measures to be adopted by large enterprises under such an environment are not only a matter of the enterprises themselves. Rather, it will create an atmosphere and influence in society. Therefore, I hope the Government can take the lead. Also, I do hope that the Government can assist in urging large enterprises to shoulder their responsibilities. After all, employees are the most important assets of a company. I hope that enterprises, in handling staff problems, can make more efforts rather than just chanting slogans.

Deputy President, Mr WONG Kwok-hing has proposed to standardize the number of statutory holidays and public holidays to 17 days. There are not so many factories in Hong Kong now. Most of them are service industries. Although we have put forward different views on this issue in our previous discussions in the Legislative Council, I think that it is worthwhile for us to consider standardizing the holidays. As proposed by Mr WONG Sing-chi and Mr LEE Cheuk-yan that we should introduce standard working hours and legislate for the regulation of working hours, I know there were a lot of discussions on this issue in the Legislative Council of the last term, and many views were put forward by both sides. As the impact on the regulation of working hours is far-reaching, I think we should think about it thoroughly. Each sector has its own characteristics and needs. We should not impose excessive regulation; otherwise, it will only backfire.

Deputy President, I so submit.