Typhoon Mangkhut aftermath: Three in 10 Hong Kong workers would lose pay, bonus and holiday leave if they missed work because of a storm, survey finds
The government called for consideration from bosses after storm caused travel chaos. But many employees say missing work would have cost them dear
About three in 10 Hong Kong workers said their boss would cut their pay, bonus and even holiday leave if they missed work during or just after a major storm, according to a survey released days after Typhoon Mangkhut battered the city.
The Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions, in its poll of 600 workers between March and May this year, also found that more than half were not offered extra pay for working during extreme weather.
Its findings came out on Thursday, soon after the government defended its refusal to declare Monday a day off. Intense winds and rain felled trees and caused debris to pile up when the storm hit on Sunday, affecting public transport and throwing the city into chaos the next morning.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor urged employers to be considerate and flexible with delayed employees, but said it was up to individual employers to decide work arrangements. The government did suspend classes on Monday and Tuesday, for schools to clean up the storm’s mess.
The survey also found more than four in 10 respondents said they had to go to work despite the extreme weather. That was especially the case for people working in property management, security, tourism, catering, logistics and medicine.