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Following is a question by Hon Kwok Wai-keung and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (June 10):
Question:
The Census and Statistics Department collected data on the proportions and characteristics of employees taking statutory holidays (SHs) and general holidays (GHs) in Hong Kong through a supplementary questionnaire to the General Household Survey conducted in the second quarter of 2011. The survey results show that among the 2 343 500 employees entitled to paid SHs in Hong Kong, the numbers of those taking GHs and those not taking GHs were 1 365 400 (49.5 per cent) and 852 200 (30.9 per cent) respectively. Regarding the taking of GHs by employees, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, among the small and medium-sized enterprises (i.e. manufacturing businesses employing fewer than 100 persons and non-manufacturing businesses employing fewer than 50 persons) at present, (i) the numbers and percentages of those granting and not granting employees GHs and (ii) the total numbers of their employees and the percentages of such numbers in the total workforce, with a breakdown by industry and employment size class;
(2) of the action taken by the authorities in the past five years to promote the alignment of the number of SHs with that of GHs by increasing the number of SHs to 17 days a year, as well as the progress of such actions; and
(3) whether it has plans, in the remainder of its term, to expeditiously enact legislation on the alignment of the number of SHs with that of GHs by increasing the number of SHs to 17 days a year; if it does, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the questions raised by Hon Kwok Wai-keung is as follows:
(1) The Government does not have information on employees of small and medium-sized enterprises taking General Holidays (GHs).
(2) The Labour Department (LD) has all along been encouraging, through various channels and a variety of promotional and publicity activities, employers to grant their employees benefits above the statutory requirements. In respect of leaves, LD encourages employers to grant their employees special leaves beyond the laws to cater for employees' various needs with a view to enabling employees to balance their responsibilities in work and family. The above-mentioned promotional and publicity activities include publications, large-scale seminars, thematic exhibitions, promotional video, newspaper articles and promotional messages published in the periodical journals of major employers' associations and public transport network, as well as continuous dissemination of such information through regular meetings and exchanges with business executives and human resources practitioners.
(3) According to the General Holidays Ordinance, GHs are days which shall be kept as holidays by all banks, educational establishments, public offices and government departments. They are primarily holidays of the relevant establishments and employers are not obliged to grant their employees day-offs during GHs. On the other hand, under the Employment Ordinance (EO), all employees to which the Ordinance applies are entitled to statutory holidays (SHs), and employers, irrespective of their trades, sizes and conditions, have to comply with this requirement. At present, some employers of the public and private sectors, having regard to their own circumstances, offer their employees benefits more favourable than the requirements of EO and allow their employees to have day-offs on those GHs which are not SHs. However, if the holiday benefits provided by EO are to be raised by legislative means with which all employers must be obliged to comply, it would have impact on employers, in particular the small and medium-sized enterprises which constitute 98 per cent of the enterprises in Hong Kong, as well as families employing over 330 000 foreign domestic helpers. The Government, in considering whether to increase the number of SHs, has to carefully assess its impact and strike a balance between the interests of employers and employees, as well as to secure the recognition and consensus of the community at large.
In respect of the numbers of SH and GH days, LD has commissioned the Census and Statistics Department to collect data on the proportions and characteristics of employees taking SHs and GHs in Hong Kong through the General Household Survey conducted in the second quarter of 2011. LD has reported the findings of the above survey to the Labour Advisory Board (LAB) and the Panel on Manpower of the Legislative Council early this year. The collected information on holidays in neighbouring economies has also been provided for members' reference. LAB will continue to discuss this issue. The Government will decide on the way forward after a consensus is reached by LAB on the issue. It is premature at this stage to draw any conclusion.
Ends/Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Issued at HKT 11:57
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