深圳培侨考试模拟题目_余菲菲的博客-新东方前途出国

Hong Kong workers are well-known for their diligence and can-do attitude, yet for them, working a conventional nine-to-five day has become something of an urban myth. Although discussions and debates about standardizing working hours have gone on for years, labour unions, employers and the government have yet to reach a consensus on the matter. As stress and fatigue continue to take their toll on worker performance and well-being, however, it is imperative that standard working hours be introduced to promote a better work-life balance for both the high- and low-paid of our city.

According to a recent study on working hours in 70 cities across the globe, employees in Hong Kong top the list by toiling for a staggering 50.1 hours per week on average, which is 38 percent longer than the global average. The study also shows that 11 percent of Hong Kong workers work at least 60 hours a week.

Overworking employees comes with grave consequences. Long working hours can cause dips in performance as workers become exhausted both mentally and physically. These can be life-threatening in some industries – there have been instances in which overworked doctors have committed fatal medical errors because of fatigue. Likewise, accidents have occurred on the roads and in container terminals when bus drivers and crane operators have had lapses of concentration during long shifts.

Obviously, long working hours have a massive negative impact on employees’ well-being. High levels of stress, sleep deprivation and a lack of exercise have been strongly linked to heart disease, high blood pressure and other health issues. The lack of free time also means that workers have little time to spend with their families and pursue their outside interests, which inevitably affects their quality of life.

Despite the accepted drawbacks of unregulated working hours, the progress made in standardizing them remains unsatisfactory. In 2017, the Standard Working Hours Committee established by the government proposed the introduction of contracted working hours, obliging employers to specify working hours in written contracts for employees on a monthly salary of HK$11 000 or below. However, the proposal was heavily criticized for being impractical. For instance, employers could easily sidestep the regulation by raising the monthly salary of affected employees to slightly more than HK$11 000.

Compared to the aforementioned proposal, a clear-cut limit of 44 hours per week (albeit this is still more than the maximum set in other developed countries such as Germany and France) for all workers in Hong Kong, as proposed by the city’s unions, would be much more reasonable. It is high time our society doubled its efforts to protect labour rights and improve the well-being of employees, something which will undoubtedly be integral to the future economic development of our city.

(454 words)

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