Govt advisors ease rules on continuous contracts

The government's labour advisors have agreed to relax the definition of a continuous contract – reducing the requirement by four hours over a four week period. The government said the move should give more workers access to employment benefits. Currently, those who work in the same firm for four weeks – for 18 hours a week – are considered to be on such contracts, otherwise known as the "418" requirement. The Labour Advisory Board on Thursday agreed to lower the eligible working hours from 72 to 68, and the hours would be counted on aggregate rather than on a weekly basis. "Subject to their meeting of relevant eligibility criteria under the Employment Ordinance, these employees are entitled to a range of employment benefits, such as statutory holiday pay, paid annual leave and sickness allowance," the government said in a statement. It added that officials will work on changing employment laws before tabling a bill to the legislature. Lawmaker Kingsley Wong from the Federation of Trade Unions expressed support for the new arrangement, saying it should offer better protection for part-time employees. "This can also stop employers from evading extending labour protection to workers by cutting hours. For example, under '418', employers often let the employees work 20, 30 hours in the first three weeks, but it would be less than 18 hours in the fourth week," he said. "That means our workers won't be able to enjoy the protection." Simon Wong, head of the Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said he doesn't think the new arrangement will have too much of an impact on the catering industry. "I don't see a big difference between the two schemes. Because we've been running the '418' scheme for a long time, and the new scheme will give us more flexibility for staffing. So I think it'll be even better," he told RTHK. However, Liberal Party chairman and lawmaker Peter Shiu, who represents the wholesale and retail sector, said he expects the proposal to add to the costs of small and medium-sized enterprises.