The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) yesterday said the workers whose wives were expecting must get paternity leave with pay.

Yesterday morning, a dozen FTU members petitioned to the Executive Council, demanding statutory paternity leave with pay as soon as possible.

The FTU said statutory paid paternity leave, which shall not be less than seven days, will encourage a higher birth rate and help ease the problem of aging population.

The FTU legislator Wong Kwok-hing will raise an oral question at today's Legislative Council meeting, questioning the government if the failure to make law for the paid paternity leave constitutes family status discrimination.

He will also urge the government to study the implications and benefits of statutory paternity leave with pay on the society and economy.

Stephen Ip, secretary for Economic Development and Labour, will answer the question today.

But Permanent Secretary for Economic Development and Labour Matthew Cheung yesterday said it would be very difficult to compel the employers by law, given there are very many small enterprises in Hong Kong.

Equal Opportunities Commission chairman Raymond Tang said the paid paternity leave had already been implemented in many countries.

Although Tang thought that paternity leave would not affect Hong Kong's competitiveness, he said intensive discussion was needed since it was a rather new thing in Hong Kong.

It will be more effective to ask the employers to follow this voluntarily instead of enforcing a legislation, he added.

Louis Pong, executive director of Employers' Federation of Hong Kong, said more studies were needed before making laws for paid paternity leave.

As Hong Kong's situation is different from that of other countries, he said, Hong Kong does not necessarily need to have all things that Europe and the US have.

(HK Edition 06/21/2006 page2)