Under Hong Kong law, there is no specific legislation prohibiting workplace discrimination based on age. The Hong Kong Government has only tackled age discrimination in Hong Kong since 1996 by educating the public and issuing self-regulatory guidelines to employers. However, these guidelines do not make employers legally liable for any malpractices and the Equal Opportunities Commission do not have the statutory power to investigate or follow up with any age discrimination reports lodged to it.
Hence, there have been suggestions to pass a law that prohibits discriminatory practices in the workplace (e.g. remuneration, hiring and dismissal) against mature workers. Mature workers are generally referred to as those aged 50 and above. It was not until May 2019 that the Legislative Council passed a non-binding motion that urges the Hong Kong Government to enact age discrimination legislation in Hong Kong. One of the reasons for passing this motion is the increase from 32.5% to 43.1% of the labour force participation rate of mature persons in Hong Kong.
Bibliography:
- Legislative Council, ‘Protection of mature workers against workplace discrimination’: https://www.legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/essentials-2021ise12-protection-of-mature-workers-against-workplace-discrimination.htm