Construction labor disputes doubled in 2015

The number of complaints this year regarding labor conflicts in the construction sector almost doubled from 2014, said the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) in a press conference yesterday afternoon.
In 2015, unhappy workers lodged 1,029 reports of complaint with DSAL. This amounts to 48.8 percent (527 complaints) more than in 2014.
According to DSAL, the construction sector represented approximately 36 percent of all complaints filed with DSAL this year.
The total number of cases in 2015 grew 28.4 percent year-on-year to 2,851. The majority of these cases related to disputes regarding salary, mandatory holidays and days off.
The Head of the Labor Inspection Department also said that the bureau had managed to solve around 90 percent of all cases raised, and that of the unsolved cases, only 1 percent were escalated for resolution by the judiciary authorities. On average, each dispute took around three months to resolve.
In order to raise awareness of workers’ rights, the DSAL created a mobile app which facilitates easy access to basic information relevant to labor rights. This application includes a simulation to calculate the number of days for annual leave and overtime pay, among other functions.
The DSAL added that they have been conducting information seminars and workplace inspections to ensure that the government’s minimum wage for building administration workers – namely those in the cleaning and security sectors – is enforced. The minimum wage has been in force since January this year. During the initial phase, the DSAL reportedly visited 40 condominium administration companies.
At the end of February, the bureau had received 225 information requests and four complaints about the minimum wage. The complaints came from non-­resident workers who claimed to have issues with salary and termination compensation.
DSAL also said the Occupational Safety and Health Department this year has performed 6,023 health and safety inspections at 2,044 companies and establishments, which resulted in 3,182 recommendations.
The department found 170 incidents of misconduct, resulting in fines and penalties being issued, totaling MOP799,000. The most common issue was the lack of safety measures to prevent falls for both people and objects (57 percent).
There were 11 fatal work accidents this year, eight of which were the direct outcomes of incidents of misconduct. This was one more death than in 2014, said Department Head Lam Iok Cheong, who added that the DSAL plans to increase fines levied to employers in the event that an employee is seriously injured or killed. The fines for non-compliance are currently between MOP1,000 and MOP15,000, and can triple to MOP45,000 in the event of a serious accident. Lam hopes to increase this amount by 500 percent to MOP75,000.