Hong Kong pledges lenient approach on 10-12 hours of civil service family leave

Hong Kong authorities have pledged to take a lenient approach when approving applications for a new scheme granting civil servants 10 to 12 hours of family care leave annually from next year.

The initiative, first announced in last week’s annual policy address, will allow staff to leave work temporarily to deal with personal matters, such as accompanying family members to hospital or attending parent-teacher meetings.

Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan told a Legislative Council panel meeting on Wednesday she expected the application process to be “very straightforward”.

Noting that civil servants might not have solid supporting documents in advance for special circumstances, she said “if the supervisor is satisfied, it should generally be approved”.