Hong Kong should maintain Employers chargeable for Harassment by means of Passengers

A Hong Kong legislator backing a bill to assist defend flight attendants from sexual harassment by using passengers will are seeking for to add language making employers liable for implementing it.

“with out that legal responsibility, the regulation will be very much passive,” Lee Cheuk-yan, legislative councilor and Hong Kong Confederation of exchange Unions widespread secretary, stated with the aid of telephone.

The territory’s Legislative Council is about today to remember the notion to widen the prohibition towards sexual harassment that now covers best worker behavior closer to colleagues and customers. The amendment addresses growing situation that provider workers including airline attendants don’t have adequate manner to respond to inappropriate touching, sexual innuendo and propositions from buyers.

“Our simplest concern could be on employers’ vicarious legal responsibility,” said Dora Lai, chairwoman of the Cathay Pacific airlines Flight Attendants Union. “If we file incidents and we don’t get any guide from our company, then it will be a problem.”

Cathay Pacific airways Ltd. said it already has protections in area for flight attendants, declining to complicated further.

“We do not tolerate any shape of harassment and take the problem of sexual harassment very critically,” Cathay stated in an e-mailed reaction to questions. “We support active measures that discourage and save you its incidence in the place of work. that is a society-extensive issue that must be addressed with the aid of all sectors and industries.”

equal possibilities

Hong Kong’s equal possibilities commission launched a survey in February showing that 27 percentage of respondents have been sexually harassed on flights inside the previous 12 months. approximately fifty nine percent of the incidents had been via clients, with the opposite forty one percentage by way of colleagues consisting of senior cabin team and cockpit team individuals.

Hong Kong’s sex Discrimination (change) invoice 2014 (Cap. 480) would “make it unlawful to sexually harass carriers or potential vendors of goods, facilities or services.” The law applies to all airlines primarily based inside the territory and requires civil, not crook, lawsuits would additionally follow “to sexual harassment that happens on neighborhood ships or aircraft outdoor Hong Kong.”

The invoice includes no language spelling out employers’ liability for clients sexually harassing flight attendants or different service workers, based totally on a legislative brief posted on the council’s website.

never smooth

The amendment will probably grow to be law by way of the stop of March, Lee of the Legislative Council said.

before writing the proposed regulation, legislators studied present legislation in jurisdictions along with Australia, Canada and New Zealand banning sexual harassment, in step with an explanatory memo at the council’s internet site.

The modification additionally expands the regulation to use against acts that take location on board Hong Kong aircraft or ships outside the town.

provider employees and flight attendants may be discouraged from pursuing claims due to the fact defendants who aren't citizens of Hong Kong may be hard to attain or because the damages are small, said Susan C. Kendall, a Hong Kong-primarily based associate at Baker & McKenzie.

“It’s in no way smooth to trouble complaints against a foreign defendant,” stated Kendall.

In-flight Incidents

In-flight passenger incidents international from altercations to sexual harassment surged to approximately 8,000 closing year, prompting the global Air shipping affiliation to name on governments and airports to penalize offenders.

“We support steps taken to shield airline body of workers, both inside the air and on the floor, to ensure they're running in an surroundings this is unfastened from abuse or other unacceptable behavior, including sexual harassment,” the airline group stated in an e-mailed response to questions.

Airborne offenses from narcotics abuse to sexual harassment rose about 33 percent from the 6,000 reported for 2011, in line with the aviation industry exchange organization. Confrontations jumped sixteen-fold in six years, after 500 incidents were said in 2007, IATA facts display.

Cathay’s flight attendants union agreed with the airline earlier this 12 months over a compromise on required uniforms. a few personnel had complained that the outfits had been too revealing or too tight.

“After our remarks, Cathay is allowing us to pick out our favored length, like not so tight-fitting,” stated Lai, who was a flight attendant for approximately 3 decades. “so far, we are first-class with it. The hassle appears to had been fixed.”