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	Workers say a 5-day work week & flexible working hours are key to greater work-life balance Employees work longer hours than required in their contracts and 25% more than international limits Date of Release: October 18, 2006

	Hong Kong employees say a 5-day work week and flexible working hours are key to greater work life balance, as shown in the first survey on work-life balance in Hong Kong commissioned by Community Business from The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Community Business is the leading Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) organisation in Hong Kong working with some of Hong Kong's leading companies.

	"The State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong 2006 Survey" is the first representative study on the state of work-life balance in Hong Kong and was conducted by the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at HKU. More than 1,500 full-time workers were interviewed.

	The survey found that 83% of Hong Kong employees believe that work-life balance is important. To achieve a better work-life balance most of the employees (32.4%) said that they preferred their employers to provide a 5-day work week, followed by flexible working hours (22.4%) and the option to work from home (14.1%). The rest preferred options such as free sports facilities (11.2%), work support services (6.1%), parental leave (5.9%) and childcare facilities (2.1%). The findings also revealed that 61% of employers currently did not offer or were not considering offering a 5-day work week.

	At a press briefing to announce the survey results, Shalini Mahtani, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Community Business said, "Examining the state of work-life balance in Hong Kong is one of Community Business' latest initiatives to lead the progress of CSR in Hong Kong. The survey results show that Hong Kong employers need to do more to promote work-life balance. Employers looking to recruit from a global talent pool must be conscious that in some other economies a 5-day work week is now the norm. Following the recent announcement of a 5-day work week by Hong Kong's largest employer, the HKSAR Government, for the civil service, it will be interesting to see if and when the private sector at large will follow suit."

	The survey results were shared with more than 180 business delegates who attended Community Business' first-ever seminar on The State of Work-Life Balance at HKU today. Both the seminar and survey were supported by the Community Business Leadership Team (CBLT) and eight sponsoring companies committed to CSR best practice in Hong Kong. The leadership team is represented by Community Business members from top companies and organisations.

	Benjamin Hung, Chairman of CBLT and Country Head, Consumer Banking of Standard Chartered Bank remarked, "Companies that offer a workplace that supports work-life balance for their employees will have a competitive edge. To stay ahead of the market, companies have to compete for the best talent and work-life balance becomes a differentiator as an employer of choice."

	The survey found that personal time and leisure activities are regarded as luxuries by workers. While the ideal ratio of work-life balance in terms of activity hours reported by the respondents is about 60:40, the actual ratio is 85:15.

	Workers rated the efforts of employers to ensure work-life balance as unsatisfactory with an average of 4.7 marks out of 10. "The figures show that workers have less than half the personal time they wish for. However, Hong Kong workers have gotten used to the situation and complaints are rarely heard. Business leaders should be the driving force to improve the situation," concludes Dr Robert Chung, Director of the POP.

	Further findings showed that employees worked long hours - the average number of working hours per week was 51.3, 8% higher than the hours required in employees' contracts and over 25% higher than maximum working hours as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Those with a monthly income of HK$10,000 or less worked the longest number of hours while 61% of employees regularly worked overtime each week.

	Some employees were denied the statutory minimum of 7 days annual leave; 7% of employees were not entitled to any leave and 1% were not entitled to the full 7 days leave.

	Moving forward, Community Business and its CBLT are undertaking another major initiative to study the state of CSR among businesses in Hong Kong.

	Other Key Findings of the Community Business Work-Life Balance Survey 2006: Heavy workload is the main factor for high overtime levels. 84% of respondents indicate they have too much work to do and cannot keep up with their workload during normal working hours; nearly 30% indicate they work overtime as a means of showing commitment to their superiors and companies or because they do not want to be seen as the first person to leave the office. 76% of survey respondents are unhappy with their work. The main reasons are poor relationships with their supervisors & colleagues (20.4%), pay benefits (17.1%) and workload (12.3%). Long working hours (16.0%), poor personal financial management (13.8%) and lack of job security (11.7%) are the primary obstacles to achieving work-life balance in employees' personal lives. The lack of work-life balance has a negative impact on the health of employees. 61% of respondents indicate that they suffer from prolonged fatigue levels and extreme tiredness at work; over 41% say they suffer from insomnia and poor diet due to work pressure; 33% noted a dramatic decline in their productivity and quality of work due to long working hours; and 31% indicate that they are more prone to sickness and increased absence and sick leave due to heavy workloads. The cost to business of poor work-life balance is high: 33% of employees report reduction in productivity & quality of work as a result of long working hours; while 31% report increased absenteeism due to heavy workload.
	Community Business Limited Founded in 2003, Community Business is a unique membership-based non-profit organisation whose mission is to lead, inspire and support business in Hong Kong to continually improve their positive impact on people and communities. Community Business provides training, facilitation and advice to some of the world's largest companies in Corporate Social Responsibility. Its major focus areas include CSR strategy and policy, corporate community investment and diversity in the workplace. For more information, visit www.communitybusiness.org.hk.

	Released by Octagon on behalf of Community Business. For further information, contact: Sean Moore / Mavis Yim of Octagon on: Tel: 2534 5000; Fax: 2544 2522 E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]