On Wednesday, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) released their findings from a study on discrimination faced by pregnant women and working mothers in local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) — defined as companies with under 50 employees — conducted in September 2015.
Out of the 1,500 expectant or new mums surveyed, 22 percent reported feeling discriminated at the workplace during their pregnancy, maternity leave, and/or within the first year of work after giving birth, while 39 percent said they could not apply for sick leave to conduct pre-natal medical check-ups on working days.
When asked if they were treated unfairly during pregnancy, 58 percent of respondents who said yes said their pre-natal check-ups weren’t counted as sick leave, while 51 percent said they were treated impolitely by their employer or colleagues because of their pregnancy.
Of the 505 randomly selected employers and human resources department heads of SMEs surveyed, 44 percent agreed that they would not hire pregnant women, while 42 percent said women are normally “less concentrated and less committed at work” after having children.
When questioned about the impact of pregnant employees on the organisation, only 9 percent of employers agreed that such employees had positive impacts, while 15 percent said pregnant employees impact the company negatively.
In response to the statement that pregnant employees “bring many troubles [sic] to colleagues” by having to distribute their workload, 35 percent of surveyed employers agreed.
Chairperson of the EOC, Professor Albert Chan, said: “This type of negative perception has no place in the 21st century workplace, and poses real barriers to women’s ability to equally access employment opportunities, including in advancing their career and breaking the glass ceiling in senior leadership.”
However, a whopping 90 percent of employers agreed that working mothers “constitute an important source of talents”. Seems like a negligible amount of solace in the face of rampant discrimination, but who are we to judge?
Based on the findings, the EOC has urged the government and “key stakeholders” to tackle pregnancy discrimination through supportive policies, raising awareness.
In its press release, the EOC proposed funding a subsidy for SME employers to hire part-time workers as a solution to understaffing during employees’ maternity leave.
Read the EOC’s full report here.
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co
Reader Interactions