Office envy - bosses silenced at end of day
Unionists want to see Hong Kong employers copy German ministry's lead in banningwork-related calls to staff outside office hours
It is a workplace rule that will be the envy of all Hongkongers: bosses at Germany's labour ministry are now banned from contacting staff outside office hours.
Unionists say Hong Kong, with its notoriously long working hours, needs a similar rule. But an employers' group representative insisted the city had nothing to learn from Western countries as it was well ahead of them in terms of competitiveness.
The new rule came into effect in August and covers the 1,100 staff at Germany's Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Former labour and social affairs minister, Ursula von der Leyen, has said she hoped this would send a clear message to all employers about their workers' after-hours availability.
Von der Leyen has just been named the country's first female defence minister.
Under the ministry rule, managers can e-mail or call their staff outside office hours only in "exceptional cases".
Dr Roland Vogt, the director of the University of Hong Kong's European studies programme, and a German, said: "We also have other laws. For example, everyone needs to have access to natural light. If you work at a place with no windows, you get depressed."