Motion on “Promoting popularization of the flexible working system”
President, the ultimate goal of technological development and social progress is to benefit mankind, and family-friendly employment practices are precisely a manifestation of humanized care for employees under the “people-oriented” concept. By adopting flexible working measures which are an important part of these practices, employers can help employees achieve a better work-life balance and develop a friendly atmosphere for employers and employees that encourages employees to repay their employers or the organization that employs them. This can realize a virtuous cycle within the community to achieve greater economic benefits and added benefits. I would like to thank Mr LAM Chun-sing for proposing today’s motion so that we can discuss whether the Government must create conditions for encouraging enterprises to establish a flexible working system.
President, the aim of a flexible working system at the outset was to solve the problem of traffic congestion during employees’ commuting hours. Apart from effectively diverting and dispersing the pressure on various modes of transport and transport systems during peak hours, it may also solve the problem of traffic congestion in society as a whole. A flexible working system can also empower employees to improve their work-life balance, enhance their work efficiency, increase their sense of satisfaction and loyalty, and serve as a tool for attracting labour force in general.
European countries with a tighter labour force started to implement flexible working earlier. Finland passed the Working Hours Act in 1996, allowing employees to work flexibly; Portugal is one of the first countries to legislate for remote working after the COVID-19 epidemic; Singapore in Asia will release a new version of its Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Working Arrangement which will come into effect in December this year; many Mainland enterprises, especially those in the science and innovation industry, have implemented flexible working measures one after another to attract talents. I believe that compared with the experience of other places, Hong Kong still has a long way to go in promoting the popularization of flexible working system.
Flexitime and even flexible workplaces have demonstrated the result-oriented feature of the flexible working system, meaning to say that employees can have more rights in managing their own work on the premise that they can complete the required tasks or have worked for a fixed number of hours. Of course, while this system does not apply to all industries, some industries in Hong Kong have already taken the lead in implementing a flexible working system. The Government has also launched a website to assist employers in adopting family-friendly employment practices, but the website only provides information, which is mainly used for reference rather than for promotional purposes.
The Family Council introduced the Family-Friendly Employers Award Scheme (“the Scheme”) with the former Home Affairs Bureau, but the Scheme has not launched any new activities since 2018. According to a study conducted by The Education University of Hong Kong, the disparity in the expectations of employers and employees regarding family-friendly employment practices is a structural problem. Overall, the development and popularity of the flexible working system in Hong Kong is not yet high.
President, in fact, the implementation of a flexible working system is subject to some objective conditions, and differences between different industries, job types and even employees are unavoidable. Due to the “individualized” nature of flexible working system, jobs that emphasize simultaneity, collaboration and confidentiality may not be suitable for implementing this system. Some employers are sceptical about the implementation of a flexible working system because they are worried about the lack of resources to set up a secure communications network to ensure business confidentiality. Besides, a flexible working system may also result in varying degrees of supervisory or managerial deficiencies. Managers not only find it more difficult to assess staff performance, it is also impossible for them to provide immediate support in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Therefore, all in all, the promotion of a flexible working system should be considered in light of the specific needs of different trades and job types. Mr Jimmy NG also mentioned that we should not adopt an across-the-board approach, and I agree to his assertion very much. The Government can provide certain guidance to industries which are suitable for promoting a flexible working system, and I believe this is in line with the spirit of the original motion. But it seems that the Government should not poke its nose into the issue of whether the relevant system should actually be implemented.
President, I so submit.