My Blog

Sustaining all-out efforts to improve labour welfare
Continuously creating room for youth development

25 April 2021

With International Labour Day coming up this Saturday (May 1), I would like to take this early opportunity to pay tribute to all wage earners in Hong Kong, for the city's hard-earned prosperity today is indeed attributable to the contribution of its workforce of 3.87 million people¹ in various fields and occupations.

Impacted by the global and local epidemics, Hong Kong's economy was severely hit with the local labour market under notable pressure. The situation has recently stabilised as the fourth wave of the local epidemic receded. As announced last Thursday (April 22), the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January to March this year was 6.8%, down from a near 17-year high of 7.2% for the period from last December to this February. The number of unemployed persons decreased slightly by 1 800 to 259 800. With global economic recovery and steady economic improvement on the Mainland, the Hong Kong economy has generally improved but some business sectors are still facing difficulties. We hope that the local epidemic situation will remain under control so that consumer and business sentiments may fully rebound in the remaining part of the year, thereby easing the pressure on the labour market.

Improving labour rights and welfare

The HKSAR Government has been actively promoting a harmonious employer-employee relationship while attaching great importance to protecting statutory labour rights. It also strives to improve labour rights and welfare at a pace commensurate with Hong Kong's overall socio-economic development while striking a balance between employees' interests and employers' affordability. As International Labour Day is approaching, let me briefly explain the current-term Government's unconventional mindset and innovative measures for improving labour welfare.

Continuously improving female employees' rights

Women in Hong Kong are “holding up half the sky”. The labour force participation rate of women (excluding foreign domestic helpers) stood at 49.6% in 2020. Attaching great importance to improving female employees' rights, the Government has extended statutory maternity leave from 10 weeks to 14 weeks since December 11, 2020. Employers can apply for full reimbursement of the statutory maternity leave pay paid to employees in respect of the extended weeks, capped at $80,000 per employee. This is an ingenious and groundbreaking enhancement measure which underlines the Government's care and concern for female employees as well as its high regard for their rights. The new Reimbursement of Maternity Leave Pay (RMLP) Scheme has been open for application since the beginning of this month (April 1). The extension of statutory maternity leave, coupled with the implementation of the RMLP Scheme, is expected to benefit about 27 000 pregnant employees and their employers every year.

Extending statutory paternity leave to promote family-friendliness

The arrival of newborns is a momentous occasion that brings great joy to both parents. With the policy objective of promoting family-friendly employment practices, the Government has introduced measures under which the mother of a newborn child (a female employee) is entitled to 14 weeks' statutory maternity leave, while the father (a male employee) is allowed two more days of paternity leave to take care of his wife and their child. With effect from January 18, 2019, the period of statutory paternity leave is extended from three days to five days in order to provide male employees with more time for their family roles as a father of a newborn child.

Increasing progressively the number of statutory holidays

In addition, the Government introduced the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2021 into the Legislative Council on March 17 this year to increase progressively the number of statutory holidays under the Employment Ordinance from 12 days to 17 days, which will be on a par with the number of general holidays other than Sundays. The Bill is currently under scrutiny in the legislature. Subject to the smooth passage of the Bill, the first additional statutory holiday will be the Birthday of the Buddha in May 2022. The long-time plea of the labour sector for an increase in statutory holidays will finally be realised by the current-term Government in the spirit of people-based governance.

Enhancing support for working households

With the pandemic lingering on, employment and economic conditions remain tough. As at the end of March, a total of 19 810 cases of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) under the unemployment category were recorded, a significant increase of about 60% compared to 12 589 cases as at the end of last January, and the highest number since mid-2014. The figures reflect that the CSSA Scheme is serving its function as a safety net effectively.

To further support working households at the grassroots level, the Government has raised all payment rates under the Working Family Allowance (WFA) Scheme since the claim month of July 2020. Taking a household with two children as an example, the maximum level of monthly allowance has been increased by over 30% from $3,200 to $4,200, which is also an increase of over 60% from the cap of $2,600 under the former Low-income Working Family Allowance Scheme. The number of active households has more than doubled from around 28 000 before the implementation of improvement measures in 2018 to over 59 000 as at the end of this March.

In order to help underemployed households affected by the epidemic, the Government will temporarily reduce the WFA working hour requirements for non-single-parent households for the claim months from June 2021 to May 2022, including substantially reducing the working hour requirement for Basic Allowance from 144 to 72 hours per month, as well as reducing that for Medium Allowance from 168 to 132 hours per month.

Abolishing the Mandatory Provident Fund “offsetting” arrangement

On retirement protection, the Chief Executive has announced in the 2018 Policy Address that the arrangement for “offsetting” severance payment (SP) and long service payment (LSP) with employers' mandatory contributions under the MPF System will be abolished. Apart from providing a 25-year subsidy to share out employers' expenses on SP and LSP after the abolition of the “offsetting” arrangement, the Government will also mandate employers to set up Designated Savings Accounts under their own names to start saving up and maintain sufficient money for SP and LSP expenses to ensure full protection for their staff in the long run. The Government is taking forward at full steam the preparatory work for abolishing the “offsetting” arrangement, including drafting relevant bills and formulating supporting measures and operational details.

No matter whether the economy is booming or faltering, human resources remain the most important assets of Hong Kong as well as the cornerstone for its prosperity and stability. Our achievements today are the fruits of the tripartite collaboration of employers, employees and the Government.

Keeping the epidemic under control is the key to a full-fledged recovery of the local economy. Whether you are an employer or an employee, we are all in the same boat. I appeal to all of you to take heed of the Government's anti-epidemic strategy and measures by receiving vaccination to protect yourselves and others. Only through our concerted efforts can we tide over the current challenges. The Government will roll out facilitation measures for citizens who have been vaccinated, including offering convenience for visits to hospitals and residential care homes, lifting certain restrictions on family and social gatherings in restaurants, setting up travel bubbles and so on.

Enlarging the room for youth development   Encouraging youth participation in public affairs

Last Monday (April 19), I attended the 99th Silver Award Presentation of The Hong Kong Award for Young People as an officiating guest. Speaking at this meaningful event, I encouraged our young people to take on challenges ahead with vigorous positivity and give full play to their talents in serving the public so as to prepare themselves to be future leaders in society.

Regarding youth policy, the HKSAR Government is committed to instilling in the younger generation a sense of national identity, a love for Hong Kong as well as an international perspective. To provide more opportunities for young people to participate in policy discussion and debate as well as learn more about government operations, we are endeavouring to increase the overall percentage of youth members (i.e. those aged between 18 and 35) in advisory and statutory bodies (ASBs) to 15% within the current-term Government. Currently, about 4 600 members of the public have been appointed to serve on about 440 ASBs, taking up around 7 100 posts. The overall percentage of youth members has increased from 7.8% (or 464 members) in 2017 to the current level of 13.7% (or 861 members). Following this trend, we are confident that our goal will be achieved in mid-2022. The Government will continue to create an environment conducive to attracting more aspiring young people to join the ASBs established under different policy bureaux and departments, so that they can participate in public affairs and reflect the voices and needs of young people in different policy areas.

The Government launched the innovative Pilot Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth (Pilot MSSY) in October 2017. In view of the good response to the pilot scheme, we have later regularised the MSSY and extended it to more boards and committees. A total of over 5 300 applications were received during the pilot scheme and the first three phases of the regularised MSSY, involving a total of 35 boards and committees with 70 members appointed. I am glad to see that more and more young people are willing to participate in social affairs and express their views on government policies and social issues.

MSSY Phase IV will be launched in a couple of days. The number of participating committees will increase from 10 to 15, covering a wider spectrum of policy areas such as conservation, innovation and technology, education, environmental protection, business and transportation. Each of the committees will offer two seats for appointment. Details will be announced shortly.

Meanwhile, in order to strengthen its talent pool, the Government has also invited MSSY applicants attending interviews to authorise the inclusion of their personal particulars in the Central Personality Index (CPI) database, so that various bureaux and departments may retrieve the information for reference when selecting candidates for appointment as members to other ASBs under their purview. The number of young people in the CPI database has significantly increased from less than 1 000 before the launch of the Pilot MSSY (i.e. October 2017) to the current number of over 3 000. At present, around 400 ASB posts are held by young people through direct or indirect appointment under the MSSY. It is through them that the voices of young people can be heard.

Social development cannot be achieved without strategies for youth development. The Government will continue to promote and enhance various youth development programmes with a view to better meeting the needs of our young people. I look forward to seeing more young people contribute their ideas to the Government for policy formulation.

Hong Kong has faced unprecedented challenges over the past two years. But every cloud has a silver lining and society is getting back on track now. The present generation of young people must have a sense of their historic mission. They should care for their home country and be visionary, law-abiding and responsible. I encourage our young people to properly equip themselves for making contribution to the country and Hong Kong by paying heed to the present conditions and future development of the state and the city as well as playing an active role in social and public affairs.