Lawmakers call for balanced approach to maternity leave expansion

Lawmakers have called on the government to pursue a balanced and sustainable approach to expanding maternity and statutory leave benefits.

Speaking to reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the Legislative Assembly’s media spring luncheon, Ella Lei said she supported the government’s proposal to raise maternity leave and annual leave entitlements under the ongoing public consultation on amendments to the Labour Relations Law.

The proposed amendments to the Labour Relations Law include increasing maternity leave from the current 70 days to 90 days and establishing a mechanism for granting additional leave days based on years of service.

“The policy direction reflects growing social consensus on improving employee welfare, particularly for working mothers,” she said.

Lei noted that extending maternity leave to 90 days has long been a shared social aspiration and aligns with the city’s women’s development targets, adding that the change would help improve childcare conditions and allow female employees sufficient recovery time after childbirth.

The lawmaker also expressed support for government subsidy measures aimed at helping small and medium-sized enterprises manage the additional labor costs associated with extended maternity leave. She said financial assistance could help translate policy goals into practical workplace implementation.

Echoing similar sentiments, Kevin Ho said that employers generally support policies that encourage childbirth but acknowledged that additional labor benefits could create operational pressure.

The lawmaker backed the idea of government subsidies to offset part of the cost and stressed that labor-related reforms should be implemented gradually after consulting both employers and employees.

“Employers are cooperating with the SAR government’s policy. However, if we are discussing how the increased maternity leave should be subsidized by the government for employers, I think that is entirely appropriate. Employers are cooperating with the SAR government to provide employees with more maternity leave, but the pressure on us is actually quite high,” he said.

On annual leave, Lei pointed out that the current minimum standard of six days, established decades ago, no longer reflects the city’s social and economic development.

“Increasing statutory leave would strengthen workers’ right to rest and allow more time for family care,” she said.

She also suggested considering models where the starting number of annual leave days could be gradually increased before further increments based on seniority, a structure similar to arrangements in some neighboring regions.

Meanwhile, Lei also called on the government to begin a comprehensive review of the Labour Relations Law this year. She said several areas require modernization, including mechanisms for recovering unpaid wages, which can be time-consuming for workers and costly for regulators, as well as improvements to work injury compensation and enforcement measures against illegal employment.

Earlier this week, the Permanent Council for Social Dialogue approved its 2026 work plan, which includes reviews of severance pay caps, maternity and vacation leave rules, and workplace injury compensation limits.