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The EOC Reports on Work Plans and Progress
22/06/2009
Members of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) met on 18 June 2009 (Thursday) at the 80th EOC Meeting and discussed various matters related to the Commission’s business including the following:
- Separation of Posts of Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the Equal Opportunities Commission
- Endorsement of new EOC Committee Membership
- Follow-up Actions on the Value for Money Audit on the EOC
- Update on Progress of Formal Investigation on Accessibility in Certain Publicly Accessible Premises
- Reports of the Legal & Complaints Committee, Community Participation & Publicity Committee, Public Education & Research Committee, Administration & Finance Committee
EOC Members considered the paper prepared by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB) for the Legco Constitutional Affairs Panel meeting on 15 June 2009 setting out the options available for separating the posts of Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the EOC. The three options were as follows:
- status quo, i.e. a full-time executive Chairperson and no CEO
- a part-time non-executive Chairperson and a full-time CEO
- a full-time executive Chairperson and a full-time CEO
Members were generally inclined towards option 2. Members would further deliberate on the relevant implications and details under that option.
Since its establishment, the EOC has appointed four committees for the better performance of its functions. At the meeting, Commission Members endorsed the committee membership and the appointment of the Convenors and Deputy Convenors for the following committees:
|
Committee |
Convenor |
Deputy Convenor |
|
| 1 | Legal and Complaints Committee (LCC) | Mr. Raymond TANG | To be appointed |
| 2 | Public Education and Research Committee (PERC) | Frederick FUNG Kin-kee | Dr. Agnes LAW Koon-chui |
| 3 | Community Participation and Publicity Committee (CPPC) | Ms. Garling WONG Ka-ling | Mr. Saeed UDDIN |
| 4 | Administration and Finance Committee (A&FC) | Ms. Susanna CHIU Lai-kuen | Prof. Randy CHIU |
Commission Members also discussed the follow-up actions on the Value for Money Audit on EOC and agreed to form a working group to take forward the exercise.
The progress of the Formal Investigation on Accessibility in Certain Publicly Accessible Premises was also reported at the meeting.
Brief reports from the Commission’s four Committees were discussed, charting the progress of various aspects of the EOC’s work in the past quarter.
Statistics for complaint handling for the first five months of 2009
|
2008 |
2009 |
Compared with same period last year |
|
| Complaints under SDO |
130 (41%) |
142 (39%) |
+9% |
| Complaints under DDO |
169 (53%) |
208 (57%) |
+23% |
| Complaints under FSDO |
20 (6%) |
15 (4%) |
-25% |
| Total: |
319 |
365 |
+14% |
Referring to the above table, a total of 365 complaints were received from January to May 2009, compared with 319 in the same period last year, representing an increase of 14%.
- Under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO), up until May this year, 142 complaints were received, an increase of 9% over the same period in 2008, when 130 were received.
- An increase of 23% was recorded for complaints received under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (DDO), 208 cases were received in the first five months of 2009, compared with 169 in the same period of last year.
- Complaint cases received under the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (FSDO) totaled 15 cases so far this year, 20 cases were recorded in the same period last year.
- By respective Ordinance, 57% of the complaints were on the DDO, 39% were on SDO and 4% on FSDO.
Increase in pregnancy discrimination complaints and disability discrimination complaints relating to sick leave
The Commission has recorded an increase in the number of pregnancy discrimination complaints. In the first five months of 2009, 83 complaints relating to pregnancy discrimination were received, compared with 69 in the same period last year, representing an increase of 20%. It is unlawful under the SDO to discriminate against a woman on account of her pregnancy, in the course of recruitment, during employment or returning from maternity leave.
A significant increase in the number of disability discrimination complaints relating to sick leave has also been recorded. In the first five months of 2009, 86 complaints relating to sick leave were received, compared with 54 in the same period last year, representing an increase of 59%. It is unlawful under the DDO to discriminate against a person because of his/her disability. If an employee suffers from an illness and has taken a period of sick leave, the employer should consider providing accommodation to help the employee, unless there is unjustifiable hardship for the employer to do so.
Minutes of the 80th EOC meeting will be uploaded to the Commission's website at http://www.eoc.org.hk following Members' confirmation of its content at the next meeting on 17 September 2009.
Media enquiries: Mr. Sam HO (Tel : 2106-2187)
22 June 2009
Equal Opportunities Commission
