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The EOC Reports on Work Plans and Progress
17/12/2009
Members of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) met on 17 December 2009 (Thursday) at the 83rd EOC Meeting and discussed various matters related to the Commission’s business including the following:
- Update on Progress of Formal Investigation on Accessibility in Certain Publicly Accessible Premises
- Revision of the Code of Practice on Employment under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (DDO)
- Reports of the Legal & Complaints Committee, Community Participation & Publicity Committee, Public Education & Research Committee, Administration & Finance Committee
- Matters related to Internal Administration
The progress of the Formal Investigation on Accessibility in Certain Publicly Accessible Premises was reported at the meeting.
Members noted that the EOC had formed an internal work team to carry out the revision of the Code of Practice on Employment under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (DDO), which had been issued for over ten years. The Commission had embarked on revising their Codes of Practice to ensure that they stayed conducive to the climate of the current society and continue to serve as a useful reference tool for employers. The revision of the Code of Practice on Employment under the DDO marked the beginning of a series of revision exercises with the review of the Codes of Practice for the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO) and the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (FSDO) to follow suit.
The Commission aimed to publish the draft Code of Practice on Employment under the DDO and conduct public consultation as soon as practicable in 2010.
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.
(A) Complaint Handling
A total of 858 complaints were received from January to November 2009, compared with 733 in the same period last year, representing an increase of 17%. In the past 11 months, complaints under the DDO accounted for the majority of complaints received :
487 Complaints under the DDO (57%)
323 Complaints under the SDO (37%)
23 Complaints under the FSDO (3%)
25 Complaints under the RDO (3%)
Statistics for the first eleven months of 2009
|
|
2008 |
2009 |
Compared with same period last year |
|
Complaints under Disability Discrimination Ordinance (DDO) |
415 (56%) |
487 (57%) |
+17% |
|
Complaints under Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO) |
292 (40%) |
323 (37%) |
+11% |
|
Complaints under Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (FSDO) |
26 (4%) |
23 (3%) |
-12% |
|
Complaints under Race Discrimination Ordinance (RDO) |
not applicable |
25 (3%) |
not applicable |
|
Total: |
733 |
858 |
+17% |
DDO
-
From January to November 2009, 487 complaints were received, representing an increase of 17% over the same period last year, when 415 complaints were received. 169 complaints on sick-leave were received, representing an increase of 26% over the same period last year when 134 complaints were received.
- The number of complaints on accessibility issues was increased by 30% to 52, compared with 40 cases received in the previous year.
|
Complaints lodged under the DDO |
2008 |
2009 |
Compared with same period last year |
|
Sick leave |
134 |
169 |
+26% |
|
Accessibility |
40 |
52 |
+30% |
SDO
-
From January to November 2009, 323 complaints were received, representing an increase of 11% over the same period in 2008, when 292 complaints were received. Most cases were related to pregnancy discrimination (167 cases) and sexual harassment (98 cases). The figures for such complaints in 2008 were 148 and 80 respectively.
|
Complaints lodged under the SDO |
2008 |
2009 |
Compared with same period last year |
|
Pregnancy discrimination |
148 |
167 |
+13% |
|
Sexual harassment |
80 |
98 |
+23% |
RDO
-
Since the implementation of the RDO and its Code of Practice on Employment from 10 July 2009, a total of 25 complaints were received, consisting 7 employment related and 12 non-employment related cases, and 6 EOC-initiated investigations. The allegations of employment cases are associated with the renewal of contract, less favourable treatment and harassing remarks, while the allegations of non-employment cases are associated with provision of goods and services, management of premises and translation.
Media enquiries: Ms. Mariana LAW (Tel : 2106-2226)
17 December 2009
Equal Opportunities Commission
