More local workers lodged complaints with DSAL

The number of complaints from workers regarding labor conflicts in the construction sector decreased by 65 this year. However, there were still 148 local complaining employees, said the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) in a press conference on Friday.

In 2016, unhappy workers lodged 2,713 complaints with DSAL, amounting to five percent less than in 2015.

The figures provided by DSAL indicate that approximately 33 percent of all complaints filed with DSAL this year were from the construction sector, representing a three percent decrease year- on-year.

The sectors which  saw  the   second
largest number of complaints were the hospitality and catering industries, with 439 complaints filed in total. The majority of complaints involving more than ten people were still filled by the construction sector. Most of these were related to disputes regarding salary, mandatory holidays and days off.

The Head of the Labour Inspection Department also said that the bureau had managed to resolve 97 percent of all cases raised. Of the unsolved cases, only three percent were put forth for resolution by the judiciary authorities.

On average, each dispute took fewer than 70 days to resolve. In 2015, the average procedure time was around three months.

DSAL said it had been conducting information seminars and workplace inspections to ensure that the government-mandated 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 2016. During 2016, the bureau received eight cases regarding the minimum wage, with ten employees involved.

The main complaints concerned salaries and firing compensation. The gaming sector recorded 230 complaints in 2016, 39 fewer than in 2015. However, on the whole, there were 34 more people complaining about their employees.

Lai Kin Lon, chief of the Department of Substitute Labour Inspection, said the lower number of cases and the increased number of people involved are related to the closure of VIP rooms in the first half of 2016. Lai explained that all associated employees had been laid off as a result.

There were four fatal work accidents this year in the construction sector, which were the direct outcomes of incidents of misconduct. There were three fewer deaths than in 2015.

From January to September of 2016, Macau recorded 5,684 injuries from work-related accidents, 847 of which were from the construction sector.

The department found 180 incidents of misconduct which resulted in the issuance of MOP882,000 worth of fines and penalties, a growth of 11.4 percent.

Lam Iok Cheong, chief of DSAL’s Occupational Safety and Health Department, added that “2016 was not a good year.”

Lam said that DSAL would work harder, and that the department believes the situation in 2017 will improve.

Lam also revealed that DSAL will implement more measures to promote safety issues in the construction sector this year, such as cut-proof gloves and cold-weather clothing.