****************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) Board discussed and endorsed at the Administrative and Operational Meeting today (February 21) the introduction of a new paternity leave policy to dovetail with the Government's family-friendly employment practice. With effect from April 1, each eligible male HA employee would be provided with up to five full-pay working days as paternity leave on the occasion of the birth of his child.
The HA's Head of Human Resources, Dr Derrick Au, said, "Employees are given the flexibility of taking paternity leave in one stretch of five days or split into half days, during the period from four weeks before the date of childbirth to 10 weeks after."
While eligible male HA employees would enjoy five full-pay working days of paternity leave, employees who do not fulfil the service criterion will also be granted paternity leave without pay.
"There are no limits on the number or the place of childbirths for the granting of paternity leave, but for childbirths outside of marriage, provision of documents proving the employees' relationship to and responsibility for the child will be required," Dr Au added.
The Board also noted the financial implication of the new policy. "As a reference, there were 843 babies born to male HA employees in 2011-12 and, given the associated 4 215 days of paternity leave, the rough estimation of the financial implication was $5.2 million in a year," Dr Au said.
Dr Au remarked that the new policy has been communicated to and welcomed by all staff group consultation committees. The implementation details will be further promulgated to facilitate understanding and implementation by management and staff.
Ends/Thursday, February 21, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:08
NNNN
