Employment in Hong Kong
Encyclopedia
This page gives detailed information on the employment
situation in Hong Kong
.
(GDP) grew at an average annual rate of 7.3% in real terms, to HK$1,627.5 billion(US$208.7 billion) in 2007. Per capita GDP reached HK$235,134 (US$ 30,157).
At the end of 2007, 3.46 million of the 3.65 million labor force were employed full-time, 117,800 were unemployed and 75,500 were considered under-employed. The unemployment rate averaged 4.1% in 2007, the fourth straight year of decline. It has since then increased to 5.3% by 2009.
as the local circumstances allow. As of 28 April 2000, Hong Kong is following 40 Conventions, exceeding most countries in the region.
s, the termination of employment contracts and the operation of employment agencies
. The law provides statutory holidays with pay, sick leave
, maternity
protection, rest days, paid annual leave and employment protection for employees. All employees have statutory protection against anti-union
discrimination. The law also provides for severance pay to workers made redundant, and long service payment to workers with long service who are dismissed for reasons other than redundancy, or on disciplinary grounds, who die in service, or who resign on grounds of ill health or old age. Employees who are owed wages, wages in lieu of notice and/or severance payments by insolvent employers may apply for ex-gratia payment from the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund which is financed by an annual levy on business registration certificates. The Employment of Children Regulations prohibit the employment of children aged under 15 in all industrial undertakings. Subject to certain protective restrictions, children aged 13 and 14 who are attending school may take up part-time employment in the non-industrial sectors. The Employment of Young Persons (Industry) Regulations govern the employment conditions of young persons aged 15 to 17 in industrial undertakings. These young persons are not allowed to work more than eight hours a day and 48 hours a week. Overtime work for them is prohibited. Eight special enforcement teams of labour inspectors are responsible for monitoring employers’ compliance with various labour legislation to safeguard the rights and benefits of local and imported workers.
s. At the end of December there were 654 registered trade unions, consisting of 610 employees’ unions, 25 employers’ associations and 19 mixed organisations of employers and employees. The total estimated membership was around 683,000. Hong Kong has an outstanding record of industrial peace. In 2001, it lost 0.26 working day per 1,000 workers. During the year, the Labour Department dealt with 31,698 labour problems, most of which were grievances involving claims of wages in arrears, wages in lieu of notice and holiday pay. There was one work stoppage, and the number of working days lost was 780.
and non-industrial sectors. To reduce accidents and guard against ill-health, efforts are focused on legislative control, safety training
, education and promotion. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance and the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, 31 sets of regulations have been made to cover various aspects of hazard
ous activities in factories, building and engineering construction sites, restaurants, catering establishments, commercial premises and other workplaces. In , 126,470 inspections and 12,500 accident investigations were conducted. A total of 2 660 prosecutions were taken out with fines totalling $32.3 million. In 2001, 597 training courses on safety legislation for 6,391 people and 218 tailor-made briefing sessions for 6,874 employees in private and public sector organisations were given. Safety and health publications were distributed to members of the public through various outlets and 241 publication stands placed in major shopping centres, housing estates, clinics, transport stations, public utility service counters and government offices. The Occupational Safety Charter, setting out the rights of employees to enjoy a safe working environment and the employers’ obligations to reduce the risk of accidents, remains a major promotion programme and as at the end of 2001, 558 organisations, including employer and employee bodies, have subscribed voluntarily to the charter. Five major publicity campaigns were launched in 2001, including a safety award scheme to promote safety in the catering industry, a programme to promote a greater awareness of occupational safety and health among small and medium enterprises, a safety award scheme to promote safety in the construction industry, a campaign to promote the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation and the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Loadshifting Machinery) Regulation, and production of two television Announcement in Public Interests and four radio Announcement in Public Interests.
policies to cover their liabilities both under the ordinance and at common law. The Employees’ Compensation Ordinance is administered by the Employees’ Compensation Division of the Labour Department, which handled 201 fatal accident cases and 67,540 non-fatal cases in 2001. Among these non-fatal cases, 10,722 were minor injury cases with sick leave not exceeding three days. The division also provides administrative support to the Employees’ Compensation Assessment Board which assess the percentage of permanent loss of earning capacity suffered by injured employees. The Pneumoconiosis Compensation Office offers assistance to persons who have contracted pneumoconiosis or in case of their death their family members to obtain compensation from the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board which is financed by a levy on the construction and quarrying industries.
(Note: There may be a slight discrepancy between the sum of individual items and the total as shown in the table owing to rounding)
Hong Kong's economy has historically been driven by its status as one of the major transport and logistic hubs for East Asia. In more recent years, Hong Kong has seen other sectors become more important in its economy. Financial and banking services have become a much larger part of the high-end economy in Hong Kong and one of the major drivers of economic growth. The growth of these businesses has helped Hong Kong keep its position as one of the world's top economies.
to propose a minimum wage level, which he will do for the first time in November 2010; the Legislative Council
will either approve or reject the amount. The law does not give the Legislative Council the power to amend the amount, and it is not applicable to foreign domestic helpers
, who, under legislation specifically governing the employment of foreign domestic helpers, earn a minimum of HK$3,580 per month. The wage level prevailing is essentially the result of interplay of supply and demand. Wages are usually calculated on hourly, daily, monthly, or piece rates. In September , the average monthly wage rate for the supervisory, technical, clerical and miscellaneous non-production workers was HK$11,712. Based on the wage indexes, the average wage rate for this group of workers rose by 1.8% per annum in 1995-2007, and by 1.5% per annum in real terms. The small difference is due to severe consumer price deflation. The overall average daily wage for the workers on public works construction projects was HK$565.60 at the end of 2007.
In November 2010, legislators of the Hong Kong SAR Government agreed to set a minimum wage level of HK$28 (UK£2.29 or US$3.60) per hour, which came into force the following May.
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
situation in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
Overview
Hong Kong has an area of 1,103 square kilometres and a population of about 7,055,071 {July 2009 est.}. Despite its small size, Hong Kong is currently ranked the 15th largest exporting country in the world as of 2008. The total value of visible trade amounted to $3,548.2 billion in 2003, and exports totaled $362.1Bn in 2008. During the period of 2004 to 2007, the Gross Domestic ProductGross domestic product
Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....
(GDP) grew at an average annual rate of 7.3% in real terms, to HK$1,627.5 billion(US$208.7 billion) in 2007. Per capita GDP reached HK$235,134 (US$ 30,157).
At the end of 2007, 3.46 million of the 3.65 million labor force were employed full-time, 117,800 were unemployed and 75,500 were considered under-employed. The unemployment rate averaged 4.1% in 2007, the fourth straight year of decline. It has since then increased to 5.3% by 2009.
Labour legislation and labour standards
The momentum in improving working conditions, Occupational Safety and health and employees’ rights and benefits has been kept up through an extensive programme of labour legislation. Some 42 pieces of legislation were enacted between 1997 and 2001. More are in the pipeline. Hong Kong aims at applying relevant International labour standardsInternational labour standards
International labor standards refer to conventions agreed upon by international actors, resulting from a series of value judgments, set forth to protect basic worker rights, enhance workers’ job security, and improve their terms of employment on a global scale...
as the local circumstances allow. As of 28 April 2000, Hong Kong is following 40 Conventions, exceeding most countries in the region.
Working conditions
The Employment Ordinance provides the framework for a comprehensive code of employment. It governs the payment of wageWage
A wage is a compensation, usually financial, received by workers in exchange for their labor.Compensation in terms of wages is given to workers and compensation in terms of salary is given to employees...
s, the termination of employment contracts and the operation of employment agencies
Employment agency
An employment agency is an organization which matches employers to employees. In all developed countries there is a publicly funded employment agency and multiple private businesses which also act as employment agencies.-Public employment agencies:...
. The law provides statutory holidays with pay, sick leave
Sick leave
Sick leave is time off from work that workers can use during periods of temporary illness to stay home and address their health and safety needs without losing pay. Some workplaces offer paid sick time as a matter of workplace policy, and in few jurisdictions it is codified into law...
, maternity
Maternity
Maternity or motherhood is the social and legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a mother and her child.It is specially related with the protection of the baby and the mother within and after the childbirth.-See also:...
protection, rest days, paid annual leave and employment protection for employees. All employees have statutory protection against anti-union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
discrimination. The law also provides for severance pay to workers made redundant, and long service payment to workers with long service who are dismissed for reasons other than redundancy, or on disciplinary grounds, who die in service, or who resign on grounds of ill health or old age. Employees who are owed wages, wages in lieu of notice and/or severance payments by insolvent employers may apply for ex-gratia payment from the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund which is financed by an annual levy on business registration certificates. The Employment of Children Regulations prohibit the employment of children aged under 15 in all industrial undertakings. Subject to certain protective restrictions, children aged 13 and 14 who are attending school may take up part-time employment in the non-industrial sectors. The Employment of Young Persons (Industry) Regulations govern the employment conditions of young persons aged 15 to 17 in industrial undertakings. These young persons are not allowed to work more than eight hours a day and 48 hours a week. Overtime work for them is prohibited. Eight special enforcement teams of labour inspectors are responsible for monitoring employers’ compliance with various labour legislation to safeguard the rights and benefits of local and imported workers.
Trade unions and industrial disputes
Hong Kong people have the right and freedom to form and join trade unionTrade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s. At the end of December there were 654 registered trade unions, consisting of 610 employees’ unions, 25 employers’ associations and 19 mixed organisations of employers and employees. The total estimated membership was around 683,000. Hong Kong has an outstanding record of industrial peace. In 2001, it lost 0.26 working day per 1,000 workers. During the year, the Labour Department dealt with 31,698 labour problems, most of which were grievances involving claims of wages in arrears, wages in lieu of notice and holiday pay. There was one work stoppage, and the number of working days lost was 780.
Minor employment claims adjudication board
To speed up the settlement of minor employment claims, the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board was set up in the Labour Department in 1994 for the adjudication of rights claimed under the Employment Ordinance and in accordance with individual employment contracts. The board hears claims by not more than 10 claimants for a sum not exceeding $8,000 per claimant. Hearings are conducted in public and procedures are simple and informal. Claims by more than 10 claimants, or more than $8,000 per claimant, are heard by the Labour Tribunal.Labour Tribunal
The tribunal comes under the Judiciary and provides a quick, inexpensive and informal forum for settling labour disputes. It hears employment claims for a sum of money arising from the breach of a term of a contract of employment or the failure to comply with the Employment Ordinance or the Apprenticeship Ordinance.Occupational safety and health
The Occupational Safety Officers of the Labour Department promote and protect the health and safety of employees in the industrialIndustry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
and non-industrial sectors. To reduce accidents and guard against ill-health, efforts are focused on legislative control, safety training
Safety Training
"Safety Training" is the nineteenth episode of the third season of the American comedy television series The Office. Written by B. J. Novak, who also acts in the show as sales representative Ryan Howard, and directed by Caddyshack and National Lampoon's Vacation director Harold Ramis, the episode...
, education and promotion. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance and the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, 31 sets of regulations have been made to cover various aspects of hazard
Hazard
A hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment. Most hazards are dormant or potential, with only a theoretical risk of harm; however, once a hazard becomes "active", it can create an emergency situation. A hazard does not exist when it is not...
ous activities in factories, building and engineering construction sites, restaurants, catering establishments, commercial premises and other workplaces. In , 126,470 inspections and 12,500 accident investigations were conducted. A total of 2 660 prosecutions were taken out with fines totalling $32.3 million. In 2001, 597 training courses on safety legislation for 6,391 people and 218 tailor-made briefing sessions for 6,874 employees in private and public sector organisations were given. Safety and health publications were distributed to members of the public through various outlets and 241 publication stands placed in major shopping centres, housing estates, clinics, transport stations, public utility service counters and government offices. The Occupational Safety Charter, setting out the rights of employees to enjoy a safe working environment and the employers’ obligations to reduce the risk of accidents, remains a major promotion programme and as at the end of 2001, 558 organisations, including employer and employee bodies, have subscribed voluntarily to the charter. Five major publicity campaigns were launched in 2001, including a safety award scheme to promote safety in the catering industry, a programme to promote a greater awareness of occupational safety and health among small and medium enterprises, a safety award scheme to promote safety in the construction industry, a campaign to promote the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation and the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Loadshifting Machinery) Regulation, and production of two television Announcement in Public Interests and four radio Announcement in Public Interests.
Employees’ compensation
Under the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance, an employer is liable to pay compensation to an employee who suffers personal injury arising out of and in the course of employment, or to eligible family members of an employee who is killed in an accident at work. All employers are required to have valid employees’ compensation insuranceInsurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
policies to cover their liabilities both under the ordinance and at common law. The Employees’ Compensation Ordinance is administered by the Employees’ Compensation Division of the Labour Department, which handled 201 fatal accident cases and 67,540 non-fatal cases in 2001. Among these non-fatal cases, 10,722 were minor injury cases with sick leave not exceeding three days. The division also provides administrative support to the Employees’ Compensation Assessment Board which assess the percentage of permanent loss of earning capacity suffered by injured employees. The Pneumoconiosis Compensation Office offers assistance to persons who have contracted pneumoconiosis or in case of their death their family members to obtain compensation from the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board which is financed by a levy on the construction and quarrying industries.
Finding employment
The Labour Department provides free recruitment assistance to employers and placement service to job-seekers through a Job Vacancy Processing Centre, a Telephone Employment Service Centre and 11 Job Centres (including two employment and guidance centres for new arrivals) distributed over the territory. Through the Job Matching Programme, the Job Centres provide briefing, intensive job-matching and counselling services to unemployed job-seekers. Employers and job-seekers may also make use of the Interactive Employment Service (iES) (http://www.jobs.gov.hk) provided by the department on the web to submit vacancy information or register for placement service. All vacancies received by the department are posted on the web site for public viewing. Members of the public may access the iES with internet connected personal computers, public computer facilities at district offices, community halls, public libraries and post offices, and public information kiosks distributed over Hong Kong. To improve its operating environment and enhance the quality of service, the Labour Department has re-provisioned its Job Centres to include such facilities as briefing room, reading area and audio-visual corner for job-seekers. Telephones, fax machines and computers with internet connection are also available to facilitate job-seekers to search suitable jobs on the Internet, prepare resumes and make direct job applications with employers.Employment assistance to people with disabilities
The Selective Placement Division provides free specialised employment assistance to people with disabilities seeking open employment. The service caters for the visually impaired, hearing impaired, physically handicapped, chronically ill, mentally handicapped and ex-mentally ill. During 2001, the division recorded 4,128 registrations and achieved 2,348 placements.Employment distribution
Total employment in the third quarter of 2007 was 3.51 million. The employment distribution among various industry sectors was as follows:| Industry Sector | Employment (mn) | Distribution (%) |
| Wholesale, retail, trade, catering, hotels | 1,056,855 | 30.1% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, business services | 509,257 | 14.5% |
| Community social and personal services | 465,356 | 13.3% |
| Transport, storage, communications | 189,812 | 5.4% |
| Manufacturing | 155,968 | 4.4% |
| Civil Service | 153,768 | 4.4% |
| Other | 1,073,500 | 30.6% |
| Total employment | 3,512,100 | 100.0 |
(Note: There may be a slight discrepancy between the sum of individual items and the total as shown in the table owing to rounding)
Hong Kong's economy has historically been driven by its status as one of the major transport and logistic hubs for East Asia. In more recent years, Hong Kong has seen other sectors become more important in its economy. Financial and banking services have become a much larger part of the high-end economy in Hong Kong and one of the major drivers of economic growth. The growth of these businesses has helped Hong Kong keep its position as one of the world's top economies.
Wages
A minimum wage law was passed in Hong Kong in July 2010. It requires the Chief Executive of Hong KongChief Executive of Hong Kong
The Chief Executive of Hong Kong is the President of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and head of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The position was created to replace the Governor of Hong Kong, who was the head of the Hong Kong government during British rule...
to propose a minimum wage level, which he will do for the first time in November 2010; the Legislative Council
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong.-History:The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule...
will either approve or reject the amount. The law does not give the Legislative Council the power to amend the amount, and it is not applicable to foreign domestic helpers
Foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong
Foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong are foreign domestic workers and housemaids employed by Hongkongers, typically families. They make up approximately 3% of the population of Hong Kong and an overwhelming majority of them are women...
, who, under legislation specifically governing the employment of foreign domestic helpers, earn a minimum of HK$3,580 per month. The wage level prevailing is essentially the result of interplay of supply and demand. Wages are usually calculated on hourly, daily, monthly, or piece rates. In September , the average monthly wage rate for the supervisory, technical, clerical and miscellaneous non-production workers was HK$11,712. Based on the wage indexes, the average wage rate for this group of workers rose by 1.8% per annum in 1995-2007, and by 1.5% per annum in real terms. The small difference is due to severe consumer price deflation. The overall average daily wage for the workers on public works construction projects was HK$565.60 at the end of 2007.
In November 2010, legislators of the Hong Kong SAR Government agreed to set a minimum wage level of HK$28 (UK£2.29 or US$3.60) per hour, which came into force the following May.
Links
- Hong Kong: Fact Sheets: Employment - Labour Department
- Hong Kong Labour Statistics - Census and Statistics Department