|
Take a look at the Questions below, and you may find the answer
well before you contact us:
About the Hong Kong Workplace English Benchmarks
(HKWEB)
1.
What is Workplace English Benchmarking?
2. Do
all employers need to adopt the benchmarks?
3.
Will attainment of benchmarks be made one of the job application
criteria? Will it become another hurdle for employees in job-seeking
or promotion?
4.
Could employers dismiss an employee or after the employment
terms on the grounds that he/she could not meet the target
benchmark in English?
5.
Are there any courses available in the market to help working
adults achieve the benchmarks?
| |
|
|
| 1. |
What
is Workplace English Benchmarking? |
 |
| |
It is an exercise
whereby benchmarks are established to reflect the level
of proficiency in English deemed desirable by employers
and companies of various fields in Hong Kong.
A set of Hong Kong Workplace English
Benchmarks (HKWEB) was developed by the Workplace
English Campaign based on the performance in a pilot
test by employee representatives of different industries,
including banking, financial services, tourism, retailing,
manufacturing, shipping, import & export, trading,
real estates, IT & communications and medical
services. The benchmarks specified in the following
chart spells out the standards of English in writing
and speaking that employees of different industries
in Hong Kong should strive to attain.
Employers may refer to the benchmarks
in recruitment and staff development for their requirements
of workplace English standards. By doing so, employees
will also understand more about their employers' expectations
of their English standards and use these benchmarks
as self-improvement targets for career growth.
For more details, please refer to
relevant HKWEB web pages.
|
|
| |
|
|
| 2. |
Do all employers
need to adopt the benchmarks? |
|
| |
While we encourage
all employers to adopt the benchmarks, we expect those
in businesses where there is a genuine need for staff
with good English communication skills (e.g. tourism,
retail, trading, catering, banking, and finance) will
be more likely to adopt them. Employers have full discretion
in deciding whether to adopt a benchmark.
The benchmarks do not constitute any
Government or legal requirement. Employees can use
the benchmarks as a target for self-improvement and
career growth. Benchmarking tests not only provide
an objective proof of their English competency, but
also open up more career opportunities for them when
more and more employers adopt them as a reference
for recruitment and staff promotion.
|
|
| |
|
|
| 3. |
Will attainment
of benchmarks be made one of the job application criteria?
Will it become another hurdle for employees in job-seeking
or promotion? |
|
| |
Some employers in
Hong Kong already require their employees to pass certain
English examinations now. This exercise will not add
or reduce any hurdle for employees. We encourage the
adoption of Hong Kong Workplace English Benchmarks as
an objective tool to help employers better assess an
employee's business English standard, but it will be
up to individual employers to select the most suitable
examination for their specific position/job requirements.
For certain job types, we expect employers will continue
to place a lot of importance on job interviews.
|
|
| |
|
|
| 4. |
Could employers
dismiss an employee or after the employment terms on
the grounds that he/she could not meet the target benchmark
in English? |
|
| |
The Hong Kong Workplace
English Benchmarks and employees' rights are two separate
issues, though we have to understand that it is reasonable
for employers to require their employees to have certain
abilities in their work-related area or to enhance their
competence as required by the work. Nevertheless, employers
should as far as possible assist their employees to
achieve the targets within a period of time.
|
|
| |
|
|
| 5. |
Are there
any courses available in the market to help working
adults achieve the benchmarks? |
|
| |
There are plenty
of such courses in the market. Many reputable English
language teaching institutions and course providers
are also offering language courses leading to the specified
international business English examinations for attaining
HKWEB.
You may refer to the Reimbursable Course List available on the CEF website (http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/cef/) for a reference of the courses.
|
|
|
