[Excerpt translation from Chinese to English provided by Business and Human Rights Resource Centre]

“Female prisoners claim to be forced to work overtime to produce face masks; Correction Services Department: prisoners can voluntarily choose to work on night shift”

Social welfare sector lawmaker Shiu Ka Chun said that according to female prisoners working at the Correctional Services Industries (CSI) , prisoners are forced to work an additional 3 hours to boost up the production of face masks while those who are moved to other work stations are forced to have their salary reduced. Shiu urged the Correctional Services Department to improve prisoners’ overtime work treatment and consider humane arrangement. Ming Pao has reached the Correctional Services Department for enquiry.

According to the source, prisoners usually work for 5 hours a day. However, since the CSI announced that masks would be produced around the clock, prisoners who work on the day shift are forced to work an additional 3 hours at night. In order to boost up the production of masks, the Correctional Services Department has launched overnight shifts that operate from 8pm to 6am in the next morning and staff members would ask prisoners to work at other work stations to speed up production…

According to the source, the female prisoners who are in their 40s and 50s and selected to work on the night shifts are worried that they cannot handle the work. Though they show signs of blurry vision and shaking hands, staff members would require them to continue working; only when physical problems emerge would they be relocated to their original work station.

According to the source, prisoners’ salaries are calculated according to the level of work complicity at different work stations, the highest monthly salary being HK$860. However, the monthly salary, with compensation for the 3 hours of additional work, at work stations that produce masks is only HK$600 at maximum. Those who are relocated to other work stations are forced to have their salaries reduced.

The source also criticized that the anti-flu measures are very loose as prisoners are only given one mask per day; toilet boards cannot be covered at the work stations and the prison cells and prisoners cannot wash their hands frequently.

… in their reply, the Public Relations Unit of the Correctional Services Department said that in response to the Logistics Department’s request to increase the mask production output, the Correctional Services Department has launched three shifts to operate 24 hours a day at the mask production work stations and rest time is provided in each shift. Prisoners can voluntarily choose to work on the night shift (the shift being 8am to 4pm, 4pm to 12am and 12am to 8am). If prisoners cannot get used to working on the night shift, they can notify the Department and arrangements will be made accordingly.