Policy Address

Labour

147.     We will continue to keep abreast of labour issues.  Subject to this Council's approval, the Statutory Minimum Wage rate will be increased to $32.5 per hour, which will benefit tens of thousands of low-income employees and encourage more people to join the labour market.

148.     The Standard Working Hours Committee is promoting informed and in-depth discussion on the issue of working hours in the community with a view to helping the Government map out the way forward for the working hours policy.

Women

149.     The Gender Mainstreaming Checklist developed by the Women's Commission has been applied to over 50 different policy and programme areas.  I have accepted the recommendations of the Commission that, starting from 2015-16, all bureaux and departments should be required to refer to the checklist and apply gender mainstreaming to formulating major government policies and initiatives, and the appointment rate of women to government advisory and statutory bodies should be raised from 30% to 35%.  At the same time, the Government will continue to consolidate the efforts of all parties, and encourage employers to offer part-time jobs which are more popular with women to promote their employment.

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