'Contract rule changes may lure more workers'
A member of the Labour Advisory Board said on Friday that more people would be tempted into the workforce after the body moved to relax the rules on continuous employment, which would offer more job protection to casual workers.  Under the changes, workers will be treated as continuous employees and receive benefits if they work a total of 68 hours in four weeks, instead of 18 hours a week for four weeks.  Lam Wai-kong, a vice-chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions and worker representative on the board, said more than 10,000 casual workers could now gain access to benefits such as holiday pay.  He said that more benefits would attract more people into the workforce.  "If there is more salary protection or employment benefits, we think it can help make better use of our labour force, improving employment among women or in the middle-aged group. It may be helpful in getting some people who did not work to work now," he told an RTHK programme.  Ricky Chan, executive deputy chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and an employer representative on the board, said the change would not have a major impact on the labour market.  "We think that full-time employees are the main force in the overall labour market, and they also account for the majority. So we think the impact will not be too big. This move is to attract more people to work full-time. In particular, we see that many sectors hope to hire full-time employees," he said.  "Of course, these days, there are more people who work as casual workers or short-term contract employees. In this regard, we have always wanted to have a good working relationship between labour and capital. Let them see that we are constantly improving their remuneration." Speaking on the same programme, Ray Chui, president of the Institute of Dining Professionals, said restaurant owners would see their costs rise by about ten per cent.   “There are a few things. For long-term employees, besides paid sick leave, annual leave and statutory holidays there is also the long-service payment. And very soon the use of employers' contributions to the Mandatory Provident Fund to make redundancy and long-service payments will be abolished," he said.  "These are all the extra costs employers need to bear."