Labor Survey discovers nearly 60% workers see inapt protection in law
Nearly 60% of workers surveyed thought the Labour Relations Law provides them with insufficient protection.
About the same percentage of respondents found the law had inappropriate punishments for violators.
The survey, conducted by the Macao Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM) between June and July, received 1,608 valid responses through both a physical and an online questionnaire. The general trade union said the survey’s target respondents were all local residents.
Among the respondents, 53% identified themselves as male and 47% female, with most of them aged between 25 and 54 years – about 33% between 35 and 44, 29% between 25 and 34, and 16% between 45 and 54. As for education level, 42% finished university and 28% high school.
Approximately 15% work in the hotel and catering industry, while another 15% work in culture, entertainment, gambling and other service industries. About 11% work in the transport, storage and communication industry.
Speaking to a press conference yesterday while releasing the results, lawmaker and trade unionist Lam Lon Wai said “quite a portion of respondents” were unfamiliar with the Labour Relations Law. As a result, he suggested the government improve its promotion of the Law, “because it is closely related to both employers and employees.” Improved promotion will also help upgrade the Law, Lam added.
He also suggested the government work with civil organizations to maximize efforts to promote the Law. Promotions should also be customized to inspire recipients of such campaigns to proactively learn about the Law.
The survey also discovered that almost 60% of respondents had not experienced scenarios related to labor rights. Exactly 51% of the respondents reported fair knowledge about the current Labour Relations Law.
Work and rest times are among the topics of most concern to respondents, with over 55% concerned with provisions in the Law related to work hours and 47% with rest hours. Meanwhile, 43% were concerned with the rights and obligations of employers and employees.
When asked about which topic in the Law is most needed for review, responses were quite scattered, with the top six being overtime work, annual leave, on-shift working, weekly holidays, overnight shifts and statutory holidays, with percentages between 35% and 29%.
About three-quarters of the respondents hoped for more legally-stipulated annual leave days, and about 46% of all respondents wanted three to four more days. Currently, the Law stipulates a minimum of six days for annual leave each calendar year.
About 70% of the respondents hoped for more statutory holidays and 46% wanted three to four more days. The current stipulation on this is 10 days per calendar year.
Moreover, 38.8% of respondents considered 98 days for maternity leave appropriate for Macau.
The ceiling for compensation regarding unjustified dismissal and the clear stipulation for the interval for review of the minimum wage were also of concern to the respondents.
Based on its findings, the FAOM suggested it is timely for the government to prepare for the review of the Law. AL
