All-day standing drives shopping mall restroom cleaners round the bend

"I will be in trouble if I get caught not standing straight," says the cleaner in the middle of his 12-hour shift in a restroom at West Kowloon's plush Elements Mall.

"Even leaning against the wall is out of the question," says the 65-year-old, a former warehouse worker who became a cleaner two years ago. The only rest he gets comes during a one-hour lunch break and a 30-minute evening break, during which he also has to fit in dinner.

A boom in the number of high-end malls has seen bosses seek to make spotless bathrooms a selling point for visitors, employing at least one cleaner per restroom and maintaining standards on a par with posh hotels.

But the human cost has led to accusations that mall owners are putting a professional image ahead of staff welfare. Those who take on the task, most in their 50s or 60s, work for the HK$30 minimum wage or not much more. And besides being uncomfortable, ergonomics experts say that long hours on their feet can be bad for older workers' health.

A chair in the workplace would make a huge difference to most of the cleaners.

"Even at the busiest time of the day, mopping the floor or cleaning cubicles would not take up the entire 60 minutes of an hour," said a 60-year-old who is closely supervised as he keeps a busy restroom at the IFC Mall in Central spotless. "I need to take turns bending each of my legs so that both legs can get some rest and I can stand longer."