Hong Kong’s labour minister has rejected a suggestion to mandate work suspension during adverse weather, after lawmakers raised concerns over employees’ safety in the wake of Super Typhoon Ragasa.
Answering questions from lawmakers at the Legislative Council on Thursday, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said such laws would be impractical due to the “diverse work nature” across jobs and industries.
Such a legislation “would pose adverse impact on maintaining the effective functioning of the society and the early resumption of normalcy, and would undermine flexibility in work arrangements for both employers and employees,” Sun said in Cantonese.
He also said the Labour Department’s code of practice under adverse weather and “extreme conditions” already provides clear guidelines to employers regarding work arrangements under extreme weather events.
But defining the types of “designated staff” – referring to the types of workers who are considered necessary and have to report to duty even under extreme weather – through legislative means would be impractical due to the complexity of different industries, Sun said.
“A one-size-fits-all approach would not work,” he added.
Sun was responding to questions raised by lawmaker Kwok Wai-keung, who expressed concern that there was no legal binding effect to the Labour Department’s code of practice for employers.
The code of practice advises employers to communicate with employees about work arrangements under adverse weather to ensure safety, but it does not carry any penalty for non-compliance.
“When T8 and T10 were in force yesterday and the day before, many shops continued to operate. How do we protect the workers’ right to not report for duty?” Kwok, who represents the labour sector, asked.
Hong Kong was brought to a standstill on Wednesday and Thursday as Super Typhoon Ragasa barrelled through the city. The Observatory hoisted T10 – the highest typhoon warning signal in Hong Kong – for 10 hours and 40 minutes on Thursday – the second-longest in the city’s history.
Some shops remained opened when T8 was in force on Wednesday and Thursday.
Lawmaker Chau Siu-chung, also representing the labour sector, said unions often received complaints from workers who said they had wages deducted or holidays cut after not reporting to duty during a typhoon.
Sun said the government does not maintain figures on such complaints, but added that a situation like this should be handled by the Labour Department’s Labour Relations Division.
Imposing fines for violating of the code of practice under adverse weather may amount to an unreasonable restriction on employers and impede economic development, Sun said.
Ragasa – ranked the strongest storm yet this year in the northwestern Pacific by the Hong Kong Observatory – uprooted hundreds of trees across Hong Kong and ravaged the city’s coastal areas.
A total of 101 people were injured during the typhoon, while 905 people sought refuge at temporary shelters.
