(27 October 2016 – Hong Kong) New World Department Store China Limited (“NWDS” or the “Company”; Hong Kong stock code: 825), one of the largest owners and operators of department stores in Mainland China, has always attached much importance to being family-friendly. Over the years, the Company has actively put family-friendly measures in place to create a pro-family corporate culture and working environment. The commitment has, therefore, earned NWDS the honor of “Family-Friendly Employer” for the third time and its first “Special Mention (Gold)” in the “2015/16 Family-Friendly Employers Award Scheme”.

Upholding the conviction of “Nurturing Talents with Respect, Care and Trust”, NWDS values the well-being of its staff and strives to promote work-life balance. The Company has continuously rolled out leave measures that are better than statutory requirements, including birthday leave, paid paternal leave, marriage leave and exam leave, etc. The “Staff Care Program” introduced this year allows its staff to take a half-day off to take care of their family and personal commitments. On top of taking care of its staff, the Company also introduced caring practices that cater for the family of its employees, such as insurance plans and shopping discounts for family members, etc. To promote harmony in the family, staff and their family are all welcome to take part in Family Days, voluntary activities and outings, etc, organized by the Company.

Founded by the Family Council in 2011, the bi-annual “Family-Friendly Employers Award Scheme” is designed to recognize employers who value the family-friendly spirit and to acknowledge and encourage their continual implementation of family-friendly employment practices. It has an objective to raise awareness of the employers of the importance of family core values, and to foster a pro-family culture and environment. To recognize a company’s family-friendly management approach, the judging panel selects distinguished family-friendly employers based on a number of criteria, including the entrants’ family-friendly employment policies and measures, rationale, and their benefits to the company and its staff, as well as management commitment, etc.

Ms. Violet Chan, Assistant General Manager of Corporate Communication and Chairman of Sustainability Steering Committee of NWDS, said, “NWDS firmly believes that our staff is valuable resources that contribute significantly in revenue generation. We understand that family-friendly measures are favorable for improving employer-employee relationship. On one hand, they enhance the sense of belonging of our staff, and on the other, they help our staff establish positive family values, which in turn promote harmony in the family and in the society at large. Our outstanding performance in these aspects has been fully recognized by being awarded the honor of ‘Family-Friendly Employer’ three times in a row. Employees of our era value their personal and family life. As an employer that takes corporate social responsibilities seriously, we need to progress with time in formulating our human resources policy and strive for excellence by introducing even more fitting family-friendly employment measures so that our staff could enjoy work-life balance happily.”

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