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Friday, May 01, 2020, 17:45
HK govt committed to improving workers' benefits, protection
By chinadailyhk.com
Friday, May 01, 2020, 17:45 By chinadailyhk.com

Pedestrians walk on a footbridge in the central business district of Hong Kong, on July 9, 2015. (JEROME FAVRE/BLOOMBERG)

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's government said it will continue to spare no effort in improving workers' benefits and protection and enhancing occupational safety in various industries at a pace commensurate with Hong Kong's overall socio-economic development.

A spokesman for the government made the remarks in a statement issued on Friday in response to demands of different labor groups. It said that it would take into account both employees' interests and employers' abilities to afford the benefits, despite the severe blow dealt by the COVID-19 epidemic to the local economy.

READ MORE: HK median wage in May-June up 3.8% yoy

"The seasonally adjusted unemployment and underemployment rates for January to March this year have soared to their highest levels in recent years. The labor market will continue to face significant pressure in the near term," the spokesman said. 

The government has rolled out relief measures of unprecedented scale, including the one-off measures in the 2020-21 Budget and two rounds of measures under the Anti-epidemic Fund (AEF) totalling HK$287.5 billion, with a view to preserving the vitality of the economy and relieving people's financial burden.

The government said it is working at full steam on the preparatory work to abolish the arrangement of "offsetting' severance payments and long service payments with employers" mandatory contributions under the Mandatory Provident Fund System

“The government will launch as soon as possible the Employment Support Scheme under the second round of the AEF, with a total commitment of HK$81 billion, to provide time-limited financial support to employers to help them retain employees who will otherwise be made redundant," the spokesman said.

In addition, the government has earmarked HK$6 billion to create around 30,000 time-limited jobs in the public and private sectors in the coming two years for people with different skills and academic qualifications, the spokesman added.

It emphasised that the Labour Department will raise the ceiling of on-the-job training allowance payable to employers under the Employment Programme for the Elderly and Middle-aged, the Youth Employment and Training Programme and the Work Orientation and Placement Scheme in the second half of this year.

It will also launch a pilot scheme to encourage eligible participants of these programs to undergo and complete the training by offering a retention allowance.

ALSO READ: HK$137b relief package for businesses hailed

On improvements to other labor benefits, the government said it is working at full steam on the preparatory work to abolish the arrangement of "offsetting' severance payments and long service payments with employers" mandatory contributions under the Mandatory Provident Fund System. 

It stressed that it will strive to introduce the enabling bill into the Legislative Council by the end of this year, aiming to secure its passage by 2022.

Meanwhile, the government introduced the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 into LegCo on Jan 8 this year. The bill, which proposes to extend statutory maternity leave by four weeks, is now being handled by the LegCo Panel on Manpower.

The Chief Executive announced on Jan 14 this year 10 new initiatives on improving people's livelihood, one of which is to increase progressively the number of statutory holidays so that it will be on par with that of general holidays.

The government stated that it will work out the relevant proposal, invite the Labour Advisory Board to discuss, and will facilitate and support its work.

The Minimum Wage Commission is conducting a new round of review on the Statutory Minimum Wage rate and will submit a report on its recommendation to the Chief Executive in Council by end-October. 

The government added that it attaches great importance to employees' occupational safety and health.

It said the Labour Department has been adjusting its strategies of inspection and enforcement, publicity and promotion, education and training according to the occupational safety and health risk levels of different industries as well as taking sufficient precautionary measures to prevent accidents by driving employers and employees to work together.

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