What paid paternity leave means for Hong Kong’s new dads and dads to be?
Reporter:Billy Leung, Stephanie Chan
Welcoming a new baby is one of the most precious moments in life, but it can also be a stressful, chaotic and overwhelming time. It takes time for new parents to adjust to their new identities and responsibilities. This autumn, there was good news for civil servants who are expecting to be fathers, as the government announced it would introduce paid paternity leave for its employees.
Civil servants may enjoy paid paternity leave starting from the second half of next year, but the wait for most private sector workers will be longer. The government says it will conduct a feasibility study before making any recommendations on that front.
For those Hong Kong dads who have been given paid time off work to spend time with their newborns, the benefits are tangible.
Colin Cheung Kwok-lam, a studio technician at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, took his five days paid paternity leave in October. “I was not just physically by [my wife’s] side but I could also provide emotional care and comfort to my wife and baby,” Cheung says of his week at home.
Cheung says he was able to help his wife in very practical ways. “I could accompany them home from the hospital, cook for my wife, and take my child to the clinic.”
What is more, Cheung says he experienced a miraculous bonding with his baby during his one-week leave. Although he is just an infant, Cheung finds his son can recognize those who are closest to him. “When I hold him in my arms, he feels comfortable and natural,” Cheung says. “But he does not react naturally when others hold him in their arms.”
Cheung’s wife approves of the workplace policy. She believes her husband’s presence has helped her to adapt to the change in their lifestyle and that Cheung has been able to share the burden of taking care of the newborn. For his part, Cheung believes his presence aided his wife’s recovery and eased any emotional problems she may have otherwise experienced.
Speaking as a mother, Mimi Choy, director of the Talent Management Department of Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited, also thinks it is crucial for mothers to have support from their partners after childbirth. She recalls the emotional roller coaster that new mothers go through as a result of hormones and the sudden changes to their lives.
Choy’s company provides paternity leave for all its male employees with the aim of creating a better workplace. Since 2007, male staff are entitled to two days paid leave.
“Apart from their work, employees also bear family responsibilities,” says Choy. “Family problems would in turn affect their job performance if they cannot handle them well.” According to Choy, whether the leave is paid or not is not the most important thing; the crucial point is to give employees time to concentrate on their family affairs.
Time is what Peter Tung, who works for New World Telecom, needed after his baby was born. After giving birth, his wife’s health deteriorated and she suffered from high blood pressure.
Although it is common practice for those who can afford it to hire nannies and helpers, or to ask the baby’s grandparents to help, Tung says it was important for him to stay with his wife during the critical time. “The support, company, and care from a husband to a new mother is essential, it is irreplaceable by a housemaid or anything else,” Tung says. Tung took five days of paternity leave.
While only 21 per cent of corporations in Hong Kong had included paternity leave in their company policy by 2008, the practice is widespread in western countries and reflects changing ideas about parental roles.
“Nowadays, the mother is no longer the only person who is responsible for taking care of the family. The breakthrough in this tradition eventually changed the father’s role,” says Professor Angela Wong Wai-ching, associate director of the Gender Research Centre at Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Wong believes that paternity leave carries the implication that mothers and fathers should share the work of looking after the newborn baby.
She supports the idea of legislation to introduce paid paternity leave because it can help to build closer relationships and mutual support within families. “Although there may be a cost to society, it is a price that is worth paying,” says Wong. “Like the implementation of the minimum wage, paternity leave can help promote a certain atmosphere in society.”
Wong points out that some western countries have introduced paternity leave as part of a package of measures to maintain natural population growth. Where birth rates have fallen, governments have passed laws to mandate paternity leave of several months and up to a year. They may also provide subsidies, gifts, medical support and social worker visits to assist the parents-to-be. All these could be helpful to encourage births and boost the birth rate.
Compared with these countries, paternity leave in Hong Kong has a long way to go. It is not yet required by law, and where it exists, the duration is short. While Australian fathers can have a year off with their children, Hong Kong fathers usually get just two to three days of paid paternity leave. Some international corporates, such as HSBC, have more “generous” provisions of up to five days.
Despite the short period of time, fathers are still thankful because they regard their paternity leave as a bonus. “I had five days of leave. Including weekends, I had a whole week off,” says Billy Ho who works for HSBC. “Five days off is rational, since it is a paid leave.” Ho believes the cost to the company would too much if the paid leave lasted too long.
Ho took his leave for the birth of his first child in January 2010. He found the week he spent with his family was sufficient time for him to adapt. He attended the birth and took the baby for check-ups and vaccination.
Ho says that as first-time parents, he and his wife had no experience in what to do after the birth of their baby. He would have applied for time off work if his company had not had a policy for paternity leave. However, he says this would have meant he would quickly use up his annual leave. He might not be allowed any extra leave and could miss some important family moments.
Given the short duration of paternity leave in Hong Kong, companies that institute it say there are few adverse effects.
The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), which established a three-day paternity leave policy in 2008, says it has had a positive effect. A spokesman said the policy allows the council to exercise its social responsibility and promote work-life balance.
Since the natural birth rate in Hong Kong is relatively low (0.7-0.8 per cent), HKPC reported that in the past three years, the total number of paid paternity leave days taken by its employees was 93, which is around 0.027% of the total paid leave taken by employees.
Pan Pey-chyou, the legislator for the labour functional constituency says that introducing paternity leave should not be a big financial burden as the average couple in Hong Kong has between one to three children.
“Paternity leave is only a short leave in an employee’s 30 to 40 years of work.” Pan says that even if an employee takes paternity leave three times for up to five days a time over their working life, that would only account for 15 days, or three weeks if you include weekends. “It is actually less than one day [of paid leave] a year,” says Pan.
Pan and his organisation, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions have been advocating for paternity leave for more than five years. During that time he organised signature campaigns on the street, which gained wide support and positive feedback from the public, especially women.
Pan thinks the time is right for Hong Kong to expand the coverage of paternity leave to private enterprises through legislation. “Some employers would think the leave is not necessary if it is not made into legislation,” Pan says.
However, he realizes that any move to legislate for paternity leave will raise the question of whether there should be mandatory paid paternity leave. Employers of small and medium-sized businesses may argue they are unable to afford it.
Pan says this is why paternity leave benefits are usually provided by larger enterprises and international corporations only. “The culture of international corporates is more generous in providing benefits to employees. They [international and big corporate] would pay to maintain the loyalty of skilled and experienced staff by providing more benefits,” he says.
Unfortunately, many lower-income workers who are the least able to afford extra help with childcare, are the ones who may be working for smaller employers. Pan says many of these small businesses are still adjusting to the impact of minimum wage legislation. Still, he believes that legislating for paternity leave for all will bring not just social benefits, but economic ones as well in the long run.
“Personally, I think paternity leave is a leave for family harmony and humanity,” says Pan. Everybody benefits: fathers can be a part of the baby’s first days of life; mothers can have better rest and recovery; corporations can keep their skilled employees; society benefits from a higher fertility rate to balance the ageing population.
“It is a triple-win situation,” said Dr Pan.
