Policy Statement & Submission

1 August 2006
Our Ref: CC161


Ms Yvonne Choi, JP
Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
Level 29, One Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Hong Kong


Dear Yvonne

Government 5-day week

I would like to relay to you questions which were raised recently by our SME (small and medium enterprises) members with regard to the adoption of a five-day week by some government departments from 1 July. Specifically, the SMEs would like to know whether the arrangement might in some instances bring inconvenience to the public and the business sector, especially if the services were popular during Saturdays. Besides services of general public interest such as the driving licence offices, the SMEs are especially interested in the usage of the Support and Consultation Centre for SMEs.

We understand that the first phase of this exercise will involve back-offices, offices providing in-house professional and administrative services; and units offering services to the public which are not in great demand on Saturdays. It is not apparent to us, however, that the relevant impacts on users - especially small and medium enterprises - have been fully assessed before the measures were implemented. It would be very useful therefore if government can provide information, e.g. statistics of previous usage, to ascertain that the services under the new five-day week arrangement are indeed not in high demand during weekends previously, and that consequently the service level to users is not affected.

As you will note from a previous Chamber paper ( attached ), we support a reduced work week by the government provided that, among other things, "current service levels provided by the SAR Government, for which they are admired, are maintained; and that services currently available to the public outside normal business hours remain available". We continue to support policies and measures to reduce pressure and improve the quality of life of civil servants, but at the same time we hope that this well-intended policy on 5-day week will not impair operational efficiency. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely




Dr W K Chan
Senior Director, Business Policy