Civil service faces toll of five-day week

Jamie Liu

About 85 percent of civil servants - or around 140,000 - are working a five-day week, up 3 percent from 2022, Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan said in the Legislative Council yesterday.

She took great pains to point out the challenges of expanding this arrangement without compromising public services, particularly in departments like correctional services that require extended hours.

To facilitate a broader adoption of a five-day work schedule, she indicated that the administration would need to reduce working hours and hire additional staff, which would incur extra costs.

She cited the importance of balancing family-friendly work environments with responsible public spending.

The administration plans to leverage technology, including transitioning kiosk services online, to further promote the five-day work week across departments.

Legco member Steven Ho Chun-yin said that while some civil servants work five days, their contracts still reflect a six-day work week.

He urged the administration to revise these contracts to align them with current practices.

The five-day work week initiative, introduced in phases starting in 2006, aims to alleviate work pressures and enhance the quality of life for families.