Letdown for overworked Hongkongers, as government ditches standard hours plan
Union figures brand administration's alternative approach – a set of guidelines for low-paying industries – a ‘betrayal’
Hong Kong has ended two decades of efforts to find a consensus on standardising working hours by deciding not to force bosses to pay overtime wages to low-income workers, settling for guidelines instead.
Outraged union figures branded the government’s solution a “betrayal” and a “toothless tiger” after members of the Labour Advisory Board said they had received an official policy document this week informing them of the decision.
“It was stated in the policy document that the working hours proposal lacks support from society,” board member and unionist Tang Ka-piu said on Wednesday. “The government has sided with the business sector.”
The government has sided with the business sector
The decision is a huge letdown to Hongkongers constantly working overtime without compensation – a 2015 survey by banking giant UBS found the city’s residents worked more than 50 hours a week on average, the highest among 71 jurisdictions it studied.