Editorial | Part-time workers deserve their benefits
- Closing a loophole that allows Hong Kong employers to skirt the rules and deny employees their benefits is to be welcomed
Labour benefits in Hong Kong may not be among the best in the world. While legislation is in place to provide basic protections, workers may still be exploited as a result of loopholes and slack enforcement. This is not helped when proposals for improvement are often stalled by disagreement between employer representatives and unionists.
The consensus of the Labour Advisory Board to close a decades-long loophole allowing bosses to avoid paying statutory benefits to part-time workers is therefore a welcome change. Currently, employers are required to provide rest and sick days, as well as paid annual leave, only when an employee works for four consecutive weeks or more for at least 18 hours each week, the so-called “418” rule. But workers are often told to work fewer hours in a particular week to get around the statutory requirement.
After much wrangling and delay, the board finally endorsed the new “468” formula, under which paid benefits will become necessary when an employee works 68 hours over a four-week period, instead of 18 hours per week over four weeks. Officials believe circumventing the new threshold will become more difficult. But enforcement actions also should be stepped up in case employers find new ways to dodge the benefits.
There are concerns whether the additional burden may weigh down businesses, especially when the post-Covid economic recovery remains fragile. But like previous improvements in labour protection, such fears often turn out to be overblown. Some business leaders believe the additional operating cost, estimated to reach more than HK$100 million a year, is still affordable.
Some industries remain worried that the rule will upset their staffing arrangements and increase business costs. But it also means they have been denying benefits for their workers by skirting the rule over the years. The proposals, unionists argue, may attract more people to rejoin the workforce and ease manpower shortages.
Subject to the progress of the legislative amendment, the new protection will hopefully become effective within this year. Officials should step up publicity and ensure the new rule will be implemented smoothly.