LCQ22: Implementation of five-day week in Government
23.11.2022

Following is a question by the Hon Ngan Man-yu and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, in the Legislative Council today (November 23): Question: Some civil servants' associations have relayed that the Government has, since 2006, implemented the five-day week (FDW) in phases, but some civil servants are still working more than five days a week to date. There are even situations of "different rest-day entitlements for the same work". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: (1) of the latest situation of the implementation of FDW in the civil service; the numbers and rates of changes of civil servants (A) working on the three FDW patterns and (B) working on a non-FDW pattern, as at (a) September 30, 2021 and (b) September 30, 2022 (set out in the table below); Work week pattern Number of civil servants (rate of change (%)) (a) (b) (A) Working on a FDW pattern (I) Working on a "Monday-to-Friday" pattern (ii) Working on shifts on a "five-day-on, two-day-off roster in every seven days" or "fewer-than-five-day/shift roster in every seven days" (iii) On FDW trial schemes Sub-total (B) Working on a non-FDW pattern Total (2) of a breakdown of the number of civil servants currently not working on a FDW pattern by the department and the grade to which such civil servants belong, and the reasons why the Government has not yet been able to implement FDW for such civil servants; (3) whether it has assessed the effectiveness of implementing FDW trial schemes; of the number of increased civil servants who can work on a FDW pattern upon conclusion of such trial schemes; whether measures are in place to encourage more government departments to implement such trial schemes; (4) whether it has considered conducting a comprehensive review on the four basic principles for implementing FDW (i.e. (i) no additional staffing resources, (ii) no reduction in the conditioned hours of work of individual staff, (iii) no reduction in emergency services, and (iv) continued provision of essential counter services on Saturdays/Sundays), with a view to allowing more civil servants to benefit from FDW; and (5) whether it has assessed the additional expenditure and manpower involved in allowing all civil servants to work on a FDW pattern? Reply: President, The Government has implemented the five-day week (FDW) initiative by phases starting from 2006. The policy objective is to improve the quality of civil servants' family life without compromising the level and efficiency of public services or incurring additional costs to taxpayers. To achieve this policy objective, bureaux and departments (B/Ds) are encouraged to migrate staff to FDW following the four basic principles below: (a) no additional staffing resources; (b) no reduction in the conditioned hours of work of individual staff; (c) no reduction in emergency services; and (d) continued provision of essential counter services on Saturdays/Sundays. Since 2015, a number of departments have implemented revised leave deduction arrangements (LDA) for their non-FDW civil servants on a pilot basis in order to allow them to enjoy an LDA similar to that for FDW civil servants. The Government has announced in the 2022 Policy Address to review and update the Civil Service Regulations, repeal, amend and simplify outdated rules and procedures. Following this, in early November, the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) has requested all departments which have not fully migrated to FDW to implement revised LDA for their non-FDW civil servants such that only five days of vacation leave will be deducted for every period of continuous absence of seven calendar days with effect from May 2, 2023. The reply to the question raised by the Hon Ngan Man-yu is as follows: (1) The Government conducts biennial surveys to keep in view the implementation of FDW for staff in B/Ds. As at September 30, 2020, the strength of the civil service stood at around 169 200. Among them, around 132 600 civil servants (i.e. around 78 per cent of the then civil service strength) were working on a FDW pattern. Compared to the position as at September 30, 2018 (i.e. around 123 500 civil servants were working on a FDW pattern, accounting for around 75 per cent of the then civil service strength), the number of civil servants working on a FDW pattern was increased by around 9 100. While the total strength of civil servants had increased, the percentage of civil servants working on FDW was still increased by around 3 per cent. A breakdown of the number of civil servants on FDW by work pattern is set out in the table below: Work pattern Number of civil servants (as at September 30, 2018) Number of civil servants (as at September 30, 2020) (Change (%)) (A) Working on a FDW work pattern (i) Working on a "Monday-to-Friday" basis 92 000 96 600 (+5 per cent) (ii) working on a "five-day-on, two&ndash;day-off roster in every seven days" or "fewer than five days/shifts in every seven days" 30 800 35 700 (+16 per cent) (iii) on FDW trial schemes 700 300 (-57 per cent) Sub-total 123 500 (around 75 per cent) 132 600 (around 78 per cent)(+3 per cent) (B) Working on a non-FDW work pattern 41 300 (around 25 per cent) 36 600 (around 22 per cent) (-3 per cent) Total 164 800 (100 per cent) 169 200 (+3 per cent) (100 per cent ) Note 1: The figures included staff who were on FDW trial schemes, but excluded civil servants working in government schools, the Judiciary, the Hospital Authority, the Vocation Training Council, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Legal Aid Services Council. Note 2: Figures rounded off to the nearest hundred. The Government has commenced a new round of survey capturing the FDW position of B/Ds as at September 30, 2022 and the relevant information is being compiled. (2) To avoid compromising the level and efficiency of public services, and to ensure continued provision of essential services on Saturdays/Sundays, as at September 30, 2020, around 36 600 civil servants (i.e. around 22 per cent of the then civil service strength) delivering social welfare services, immigration counter services, cultural and leisure services, postal services, environmental hygiene services, or engaged in law enforcement, passenger/cargo clearance, management of penal institutions, etc. were still working on a non-FDW work pattern. (3) The CSB has been encouraging departments which have not fully implemented FDW to explore the feasibility of migrating more staff to FDW in a pragmatic manner. A number of departments have been implementing trial schemes proactively in recent years. More than 2 600 civil servants have migrated to a FDW pattern successfully in the past year after the implementation of trial schemes. At present, individual departments (e.g. the Hong Kong Police Force, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department) are implementing or reviewing the effectiveness of their trial schemes, involving more than 3 700 civil servants. We will continue to encourage departments to explore ways to enable more civil servants to work under a FDW pattern. (4) and (5) The policy objective of FDW is to improve the quality of civil servants' family life without compromising the level and efficiency of public services or incurring additional costs to taxpayers. We have no plan to change the relevant principles at the moment and hence have not assessed the additional resources associated with such change.