The big four Hong Kong property developers, owned by local tycoons, have recently introduced 5-day workweek after HKSAR government did that and followed suit by most inbound multinational companies a decade ago. This late change came along with the reign of the new-gen management for the family business and we are keeping an eye on more “new thinking” from the traditional local companies in the future.

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Besides that, it has been an eye-catching news that Standard Chartered has extended maternity leave to 20 weeks, which is double that of the length stated by law. Another company, the Hong Kong Broadband Network (“HKBN”), has added a 3-day grandparenthood leave to the basket of special leaves/work arrangement, including 35-hour workweek, monthly half-day off Friday, half-day festival leaves, etc. HKBN stated that it is an employer committed to LIFE-work priority, i.e. life is over work, for promoting quality life for its employees.

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It is true that if we don’t care about our employees, the employees will not care for the business. Balancing employee’s work and life is not a zero-sum game.