Private businesses in Hong Kong have responded overwhelmingly to training by the Equal Opportunities Commission designed to prevent discrimination at work.
The private sector workshops, which were organised by the commission from September to November, were oversubscribed, and as a result the commission is planning a second series of training sessions, beginning in March, to accommodate those who had been unable to attend.
George Bisas, of the commission's training division, said problems of discrimination typically arose in the recruitment of employees, the termination of their contracts and during work.
'Our training workshops are really about practical application of equal opportunities laws in the workplace, such as having a mechanism to handle problems and complaints and an equal opportunity and sexual harassment policy for the workplace,' he said.
More than 200 firms were represented at the workshops, with most of those attending coming from personnel management divisions, several managing directors and human resource professionals across all industries. Mr Bisas said the high level of interest showed Hong Kong's private sector was eager to learn how it could carry out its responsibility to prevent discrimination in the workplace.
'After all, employers are held vicariously liable for the actions of employees, and companies have to take reasonable, practical measures to prevent harassment and discrimination,' he said.