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The following is issued on behalf of the Standard Working Hours Committee:
The Standard Working Hours Committee (SWHC) held its fourth meeting today (November 27). The Committee considered the progress reports of its two working groups (WGs) on "Working Hours Consultation" and "Working Hours Study".
The Chairperson of the Committee, Dr Leong Che-hung, said after the meeting, "The Committee supported the Consultation WG's proposed consultation arrangements. To comprehensively collect opinions from various sectors of the community, the Committee will conduct wide consultation in four directions, namely to consult (i) the sectors with relatively long working hours mentioned in the Report of the Policy Study on Standard Working Hours, (ii) specific occupations/professions, (iii) the general public, and (iv) other major industries and organisations. Over 30 consultation sessions, including consultation forums, symposia and meetings with individual organisations, are expected to be convened in the first half of 2014.
"The Committee's dedicated website (www.swhc.org.hk) has been launched earlier this week. We hope members of the public will visit our website to better understand our work and offer views on working hours issues. To enhance public understanding of the subject of working hours, the Committee will also pursue other promotional channels, through, for example, TV programmes and roving exhibitions."
Dr Leong added, "To foster an evidence-based discussion, the Study Group will collect more comprehensive statistics on working hours through the Annual Earnings and Hours Survey conducted by the Census and Statistics Department and the dedicated working hours surveys by a consultant. An array of relevant factors will also be drawn up to analyse the impact of a working hours policy on various aspects of the community and the economy."
He said, "The Committee is identifying consultancy firms to assist with the public consultation and the dedicated working hours surveys, with a view to commencing the public consultation and the surveys in early 2014. The two WGs strive to complete their work by end-2014, and submit reports to the Committee to assist the Committee to formulate plans for its next stage of work."
The SWHC comprises a Chairperson and 23 members, including 12 serving members (employer and employee representatives) of the Labour Advisory Board. Of the remaining 11 members, one each comes from the labour sector and the business field, and three each from academia, the community and the Government.
Ends/Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:57
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