Workers, know your rights, experts say, after high-profile labour disputes hit Hong Kong
Employees in the city are often left open to abuse, labour experts say, and there is an unwillingness to turn to the courts for help
Hong Kong’s workers remain at risk of exploitation because most do not know their rights, leaving them vulnerable to employers’ sometimes unreasonable demands, experts have said.
Within the last decade, rows have erupted at workplaces in which employees have complained they lacked adequate freedoms and even basic human rights, despite the special administrative region being a signatory to 41 international labour conventions.
In the latest high-profile dispute, the employer of a foreign domestic worker sparked outrage after sharing an angry post on Facebook in which she condemned her employee for keeping the air conditioning on in her room overnight without her permission, despite temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius. The woman, surnamed Wong, described her employee as “audacious to the extreme” and threatened to remove the air conditioning switch.
There was also a report this week on a foreign domestic helper having her toilet time restricted to three minutes and even needing approval to use the bathroom.
The case reignited debate over the vague nature of employment contracts for Hong Kong’s foreign domestic workers, who are often exploited as a consequence.
Aside from domestic workers, employees in Hong Kong more broadly are often not aware of their employment rights, leaving them open to abuse, labour experts have said.
