Hong Kong’s failure on overtime pay legislation shows it is moving backwards

After more than five years of negotiations, the government has decided not to legislate on paying overtime to low-income workers, opting to set guidelines instead. This is yet another example of Hong Kong regressing rather than progressing.

How much time has been wasted and how much goodwill among stakeholders lost during the process? It is unfortunate that the compensation law cannot be established to provide better working conditions. Hong Kong has been known as the city with the highest percentage of those working more than 50 hours a week among 71 jurisdictions, according to a 2015 UBS survey.

Despite our impressive economic growth and gross domestic product being comparable to many high-income countries, our income gap has reached a historic high. The latest figure suggests that 19.9 per cent of the population is below the poverty line (earning less than half of the median income) and there has not been much improvement in quality of life. The government has to provide a subsidy to low-income earners, some of whom would earn enough if the overtime payment legislation were in force.

As of now, the government recommends guidelines for only 11 labour-intensive industries where the pay is relatively low. These guidelines carry no penalties, so it may be wishful thinking to expect employers to follow them. Some employers have consistently displayed negligence regarding the well-being of workers in certain sectors, such as among construction workers. They will not do anything unless greater punitive measures are put in place.