Pay Hong Kong bosses the cost of extra month’s maternity leave, former government adviser urges
Professor Francis Lui says added payout would be about HK$800 million a year, or HK$19,000 per female worker, a sum the administration ‘should have no problem settling’
An economist and government adviser has said a plan to give women four more weeks of paid maternity leave would cost Hong Kong bosses an extra HK$800 million a year – and called on officials to pay them to make up for it.
Professor Francis Lui Ting-ming, adjunct professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, warned that employers could be discouraged from hiring women if they had to shoulder the added costs.
“From the employers’ viewpoint, better maternity benefits mean higher costs,” Lui said. “They not only need to pay the mothers on leave, but also may have to hire part-timers to fill in, let alone the loss in productivity.”
Based on figures saying about 42,000 working mothers gave birth in 2017 and their average monthly pay was HK$18,000, Lui projected the total extra cost of allowing female workers four more weeks’ maternity leave would be about HK$800 million a year. The cost per employee would be slightly more than HK$19,000 a year.
“This is about 0.03 per cent of Hong Kong’s GDP in 2017. The government should have no problem settling all the extra costs for the employers,” said Lui, who used to be a member of the government-appointed working group on long-term fiscal planning.
Lui weighed in as small business owners were up in arms over the extension plan, saying they had already been pushed to the brink by a series of labour rights proposals under consideration.
