Equal opportunities in employment fully supported

The Labour Department fully supports the promotion of equal opportunities, particularly in the area of employment, the Commissioner for Labour, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said at a conference organised by the Equal Opportunities Commission today (March 18).

This is in line with the Government's commitment to fostering gender equality through legislation and administrative policies.

Mr Cheung said equality of men and women was a "cardinal principle" enshrined in many international human rights conventions applicable to Hong Kong.

While the Bill of Rights Ordinance provided that men and women should enjoy the same basic human rights and equal protection under the law, the Sex Discrimination Ordinance rendered unlawful discrimination on the grounds of sex, marital status or pregnancy in specified areas of activities including employment, Mr Cheung said.

"Our labour legislation provides equal protection in all employment-related areas to all employees, irrespective of sex. These areas mainly cover rights and benefits as well as safety and health.

"In addition, our Employment Ordinance provides female workers with maternity benefits and also protection against discrimination on ground of pregnancy," Mr Cheung said.

The Labour Department's Local Employment Service (LES) and Selective Placement Service provided free employment assistance to job-seekers on a gender-neutral basis.

In 1999, 45 percent of the 189,000 job-seekers registered with the LES were female and 54 percent of the 33,500 placements directly made by the department were successfully made for female.

"To eliminate discriminatory practices or recruitment of employees, the LES carefully vets vacancies from employers to ensure that they carry no restrictive requirements based on sex and age," Mr Cheung said.

Mr Cheung noted that during the past decade, women's participation and standing in the Hong Kong economy had been steadily improving. With enhanced education and increased training and retraining opportunities, there was a growing number of women taking up employment in Hong Kong.

At present, women represented almost 40 percent of the labour force and the unemployment rate was generally lower than that for males. In 1999, the employment rate for females and males was 4.9 percent and 7.1 percent respectively, he said.