Discrimination rife at work in Hong Kong, Equal Opportunities Commission finds in study
Almost one in five say they have experienced unfair treatment - most often on age grounds - but only a handful took action to stop it
Almost one in five Hong Kong employees say they have faced discrimination in the workplace - most often on grounds of age, a study by the equalities watchdog found.
"When we talk about workplace discrimination, one [case] is far too many. When we're talking about 18 per cent, it is a large figure. I do not think it is acceptable," said Dr John Tse Wing-ling, convenor of the watchdog's policy and research committee.
Despite calling the figure "serious", Tse said the situation elsewhere was far worse. He said 75 per cent of people in Thailand had faced discrimination at work; 50 per cent in Turkey; and 40 per cent in many other countries.
"From our research we found that a huge portion of discrimination in workplace is age discrimination. Currently there is no … legislation covering this area," Tse said.
"Perhaps in the future, the government should provide more resources in terms of education and awareness, and perhaps consider the necessity of having anti-age-discrimination legislation."
The watchdog is in the middle of a review of discrimination laws, although the study was not part of that process.
The median age for those who reported age discrimination was 40 to 49. Examples collected included older people being replaced by younger workers and young staff being challenged by their bosses on whether they were serious about work.
Some 21 per cent of those who reported discrimination said it was on sexual grounds and 14 per cent on family grounds - such as mothers being asked about balancing work and childcare.
Some 11 per cent felt discriminated against because they were new immigrants, 10 per cent because they were pregnant; 9 per cent due to marital status; 4 per cent on disability; three per cent on race; and 0.2 per cent on sexual orientation.
Some 17 per cent said they had been sexually harassed.
The watchdog was alarmed to note that 94 per cent of victims did not take action; others reported the case to the EOC or the Labour Department.
Dr Ferrick Chu Chung-man, the EOC's policy and research chief, said employers should be aware that staff who faced discrimination would be less productive and more likely to leave.
Some 40 per cent of the alleged victims worked in companies with between 10 and 49 staff.
Tse said it was possible small to medium-sized companies did not have anti-discrimination policies, which bigger companies had the resources to put in place.
