Labour Department Launches Good Employer Charter 2026 to Promote Work-Life Balance and Family-Friendly Practices.

Good Employer Charter 2026 promotes family-friendly employment culture

The Labour Department (LD) held the Good Employer Charter 2026 Kick-off Ceremony today (January 16), calling on employers from various sectors to join the charter and adopt good human resource management and family-friendly employment practices.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Ho Kai-ming, said that this round of the Good Employer Charter, with the theme "Work-family balance, Together strive for brilliance", aims to encourage employers to provide appropriate support to assist employees in balancing their work and family needs, thereby helping to unleash the local workforce.

The Chief Executive's 2025 Policy Address announced a series of initiatives for promoting fertility, including the LD encouraging more employers, through the Good Employer Charter, to adopt flexible arrangements that are conducive to childcare and extend the impact of a family-friendly culture in the workplace.

Furthering the objectives of the charter, Charter 2026 encourages enterprises to offer employment benefits that are more favourable than statutory requirements, introduce employee-caring employment practices, maintain good communication with employees, and render support to employees' family needs to promote work-life balance, having regard to their operational circumstances.

Charter 2026 is supported by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong; the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong; the Employers' Federation of Hong Kong; the Family Council; the Federation of Hong Kong Industries; the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce; the Hong Kong General Chamber of Small and Medium Business; the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management; and the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association. A sharing session was arranged at the ceremony, and signatories of the last charter were invited to share their successful experiences in implementing family-friendly employment practices.

The LD awarded the first Good Employer Charter in 2018. This year, the LD is launching the fourth round of the charter to encourage more enterprises to join the fleet of good employers. For event details, please visit the website: www.gec.labour.gov.hk.

Good Employer Charter 2026 promotes family-friendly employment culture Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Good Employer Charter 2026 promotes family-friendly employment culture Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Good Employer Charter 2026 promotes family-friendly employment culture Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Two men involved in unauthorised transfer of bookings of recreation and sports facilities sentenced to community service orders

Two men involved in the unauthorised transfer of bookings of recreation and sports facilities, charged with "using an identity card relating to another person" and "transferring an identity card to another person" and having pleaded guilty to the charges earlier, were sentenced to community service orders of 80 hours respectively at the Shatin Magistrates' Courts today (January 16). One of them was the original hirer, and his booking right for the use of recreation and sports facilities had already been suspended by theLeisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) for 360 days.

The LCSD conducted a joint operation with law enforcement agencies at the tennis courts in Victoria Park on July 13, 2024, to combat unauthorised transfer of bookings of recreation and sports facilities and other illegal activities. During the operation, one man suspected of using and possessing another person's identity card without reasonable excuse was arrested. Another man involved was subsequently charged with "transferring an identity card to another person".

The LCSD appeals to the public not to engage in any unauthorised transfer of bookings of recreation and sports facilities. Users should not pay scalpers for facility bookings, use another person's identity card, or lend their own identification documents to another person for check-in to use facilities. Users breaching the LCSD's "General Conditions of Use of Leisure and Sports Facilities" or the law will have their rights for booking recreation and sports facilities suspended for 360 days.

SmartPLAY has already incorporated conditions prohibiting the use of computer programmes or other automated tools to make bookings. Starting from January 21, 2026, if users breach the said conditions, the LCSD will immediately suspend their accounts for 360 days without giving any prior notice. The LCSD once again reminds users of the necessity of complying with the "Conditions of Use of SmartPLAY", properly managing the information of their SmartPLAY accounts, and not disclosing their user account numbers and passwords to others. Users having provided their user account numbers and passwords to a third party are advised to change their passwords as soon as possible and regularly to prevent unauthorised use of their accounts.

The LCSD will continue to combat unauthorised transfer and touting of leisure venues and enhance SmartPLAY, as well as implement further anti-touting measures as necessary.

Source: AI-found images