Hong Kong welfare minister apologises to Carrie Lam for going rogue in Legislative Council with maternity leave bill

Welfare chief says sorry for pressing ahead with bid to bypass Legislative Council committee without telling his colleagues

Law Chi-kwong wanted to increase statutory maternity leave by four weeks before lawmakers break for summer

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Law Chi-kwong, the secretary for labour and welfare, has apologised to his boss Carrie Lam for his attempts to fast-track a bill through the Legislative Council. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 3:19pm, 12 Jan 2020Updated: 9:46pm, 12 Jan 2020

Hong Kong’s welfare minister has apologised to the city’s leader for keeping the government in the dark about his bid to fast-track legislation increasing maternity leave by four weeks.

But Law Chi-kwong on Sunday defended the move as the only way to pass the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 – which would extend statutory maternity leave from 10 to 14 weeks – before the end of the legislative term in July.

Law raised eyebrows in the Legislative Council by launching a motion for the bill to go before the manpower panel, instead of the House Committee for its usual scrutiny, after tabling the draft legislation on Thursday.

Law Chi-kwong said the only way to pass a law increasing maternity leave in Hong Kong in the current legislative term was through bypassing a key scrutiny committee. Photo: Shutterstick Images

The committee is in deadlock after pan-democrats have refused to elect a chairman since October amid months of anti-government protests, stalling several pieces of legislation in the process.

In his blog on Sunday, Law revealed he had apologised to Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and said he only learned of the trick to bypass the committee half an hour before moving the motion in the council.

He could not give notice beforehand because the exact wording of motion was drafted just six minutes before the meeting, the secretary for labour and welfare added.