Local worker cries foul on “racist” HR policies

It has been 70 years since The Peak District Reservation Ordinance, banning Chinese people from living on The Peak, ended in 1947.

Today, Hong Kong is a world-class city where people from different cultures and religious beliefs are given equal opportunity to excel, yet some employers are still maintaining HR policies that give expatriate employees the "European privilege".

It is understandable for employers to want to sweeten the deal for expatriate workers with perks like higher pay, housing allowance, and education allowance to encourage them to move away from home.

But some companies take things too far. A human resources professional at a multinational corporation shared in a post on Hong Kong Discussion Group how the company maintained "European privilege" for expat employees.

Fed up with the unfair treatment, the writer of the post already left the job at the retailer, but felt he had to speak up about the practice. Below is a list of HR policies which he believes are discriminating against local employees.

• The human resources department is advised to be more lenient with expat workers for showing up late and leaving work early, but are told to keep a close eye on local workers.
• With the exception of Sundays, expat employees get to choose their days off, but local workers don't.
• Expat workers are offered more than 10 days of annual leave, while local workers receive only seven.
• The boss gives local employees an earful for applying for sick leave, but is fine with expat employees pulling a sickie.
• Expat employees work six hours a day with overtime compensation, local workers work longer hours and have no overtime pay.

How far does your company go in trying to attract and retain expatriate talent?

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