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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, at a media stand-up session after attending a meeting of the Legislative Council Panel on Manpower today (December 16):
Reporter: ..... in workplace and he said that the employer should not change the contract if having no consensus between employers and employees. How do you comment on that?
Secretary for Labour and Welfare: I think it is very important for employers to bear in mind the interests and well-being of their employees. Employees are their very valuable asset in the first place. In fact, the whole purpose of introducing minimum wage is to protect the interests of elementary workers. So it would be unacceptable if after the implementation of the minimum wage, an employee gets less than what he receives before if he works similar hours. That is a very important point to bear in mind. When changing any contractual terms, the employers must have regard first of all to the morale, sentiment, and also bear in mind the loyalty of their employees. And particularly, if an employer can afford it, I would encourage them really to continue to offer the benefits which employees enjoyed well before minimum wage was introduced. It is very important. The starting point is reasonableness, compassion as well as staff morale.
Reporter: Some people worry that employers may avoid giving lunch break and change the contract. Do you think that would be possible?
Secretary for Labour and Welfare: Many employers if they are already providing sort of paid meal breaks, chances are they will continue to do so. As I said, it would be unacceptable if they start cutting this benefit. But, of course, it is not in the law itself. At the moment, the law is silent on whether meal breaks should be paid or not. It is subject to negotiation between employers and employees. So our message to the employers is: if employees are enjoying paid meal breaks, employers should not cut this benefit if at all possible, if they can afford it, of course. And also, if the employees enjoy a lot of benefits before the introduction of minimum wage and after the introduction of the minimum wage, I think it is understandable that the employees expect the same benefits to be offered. All these have to be borne in mind by the employers if they are talking about harmonious working relationship, long-term interests of the staff and also in terms of business, staff morale and sentiment. It is always in their own interests to have motivated and loyal employees working for them.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Thursday, December 16, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:10
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