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A. Unlawful acts under the four anti-discrimination ordinances in Hong Kong
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There are four anti-discrimination ordinances in Hong Kong, namely the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (“SDO”), Disability Discrimination Ordinance (“DDO”), Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (“FSDO”) and Race Discrimination Ordinance (“RDO”). The Ordinances render unlawful acts which discriminate against persons on the ground of gender, marital status, pregnancy, breastfeeding, family status, disability or race in the prescribed areas of activities; they also render unlawful acts of sexual harassment, harassment on the ground of breastfeeding, disability/racial harassment and vilification. The following behaviours are illustrative of, but not limited to, what may be regarded as discrimination/harassment:

a.    Sex/Marital Status/Pregnancy/Breastfeeding Discrimination/Harassment

(i)

Sex/marital status discrimination

  • Decisions on promotion and salary increase made based on the sex/marital status of the employee.
(ii)

Pregnancy discrimination

  • Not offering a job/admission to an applicant/a student because she is pregnant.
  • An employer insists that all its employees work over time. An employee is penalized because she is not able to work overtime as she is pregnant.
(iii)

Breastfeeding discrimination/harassment

  • A breastfeeding woman who is the best qualified candidate but is not selected for the job because she is breastfeeding.
  • Making jokes to a breastfeeding woman or in her presence.

(For complaints or incidents relating to sexual harassment, please refer to a separate set of Guidelines on sexual harassment.)

 

b.    Disability Discrimination, Harassment and Vilification

(i)

Disability discrimination

  • Not offering admission to students on the ground of their disability.
  • Dismissing employees who have recovered from an illness because the employer thinks that their disability will relapse in the future.
  • Not allowing longer examination time for students with writing difficulties.
(ii)

Disability harassment

  • Offensive jokes or sarcastic comments about one’s disability and abusive behavior towards one’s disability.
(iii)

Disability vilification

  • A person speaks in an activity open to all staff members and students that persons with disability are useless and a burden to society.
 

c.    Family Status Discrimination

  • Not offering admission to qualified students because they have a new born baby.
  • Not promoting qualified staff with infants fearing that they might not be able to travel.
  • An employer insists that all its employees work overtime so the employer dismisses employees who cannot work overtime because they have a responsibility to take care of their young children.
 

d.    Race Discrimination, Harassment and Vilification

(i)

Race discrimination

  • Refusing to admit students of ethnic minority to a student association because of their skin colour.
  • Not offering a job on the ground of the applicant’s race.
  • A blanket ban on beard for all staff and students may discriminate against some ethnic groups (who by their custom have to keep a beard), when compared to other racial groups, if information shows that the blanket ban is not justifiable.
(ii)

Race harassment

  • Offensive jokes or sarcastic comments about one’s racial background, accent or customs, etc.
(iii)

Race vilification

  • Posting some derogatory remarks/speaking openly targeting at persons of certain race on campus.

For more information, please refer to the website of the Equal Opportunities Commission at www.eoc.org.hk/en.

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