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The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, today (September 27) called on employers and employees to maintain good communication and dialogue in order to foster a culture of mutual understanding in the workplace.
Addressing the "Seminar on Employer-employee Communication and Dialogue" organised by the Labour Department, Mr Cheung said, "Models of communication may vary from organisation to organisation. Some relatively well-established enterprises may set up consultative committees, staff associations or labour unions to promote dialogue between employers and employees, while many organisations hold regular staff meetings or gatherings between senior management and employees. It demonstrates that communication can be achieved through different forms and means."
Mr Cheung said sincere communication under mutual trust and understanding could bring about harmonious employer-employee relationship, adding that employees, employers and the Government should join hands to promote such a culture. He appealed to all employers to proactively engage staff and staff unions when formulating company policies.
"The Administration has been providing employers and employees with effective communication platforms on which they are able to express views over various labour issues on an equal basis. We also spare no efforts in encouraging and promoting the development of voluntary negotiation mechanisms. At the central level, the Labour Department has set up the Labour Advisory Board to advise the Government on formulating labour legislation and policies. At the industry level, the Department has set up nine industry-based tripartite committees to facilitate regular exchanges over labour relations and employment issues," he added.
At the enterprise level, through the establishment of 18 Human Resources Managers Clubs, the Labour Department has kept encouraging employers to adopt good people management practices and maintain effective communication with staff and staff unions on employment matters. In case of any labour disputes, the Labour Relations Division of the Labour Department would assist by providing voluntary conciliation service.
Mr Cheung pointed out that the number of disputes involving more than 20 people had dropped from 143 cases in 2009 to 68 cases last year, a reduction of 52 per cent. The number of claims involving less than 20 persons had also dropped from 24 303 cases to 20 434 cases in the same period, representing a decrease of 16 per cent.
Also attending the seminar today were the Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Paul Tang; Commissioner for Labour, Mr Cheuk Wing Hing; President of the Hong Kong Construction Association, Mr Thomas Ho; Honorary Chairman of Hong Kong Bar-Bending Contractors Association, Mr Tsang Ting-fat; Chairman of Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, Mr Chow Luen-kiu, and Chairman of Hong Kong Construction Industry Bar-Bending Workers Union, Mr Luk Kwan-ngai.
About 100 guests including representatives from workers' unions, employers' associations, employers and professional bodies of the nine industry-based tripartite committees joined the seminar. In addition to the sharing of experience on employer-employee dialogue by guest speakers from employers' associations and workers' unions of the construction sector, the Director of the Centre for Human Resources Strategy and Development of the Hong Kong Baptist University, Professor Randy Chiu, gave a talk on "Overview and Outlook of employer-employee communication and dialogue"; veteran media practitioner and commentator Mr Lee Kam-hung also gave a talk on "Employer-employee communication and dialogue from the media perspective".
Ends/Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Issued at HKT 14:13
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