Sir,
Speech by the Commissioner for Labour in the Legislative Council on 29 May 1985
Employees' Compensation (Amendment) Bill 1985
1.
I move the second reading of the Employees'
Compensation (Amendment) Bill 1985.
In December 1982 the Employees' Compensation
Ordinance was amended to provide for a number of improvements
to the compensation system. These included provision for minor
claims to be settled quickly and conveniently by a certificate
of assessment issued by the Labour Department, instead of
the previous time-consuming requirement for the employer and
employee to negotiate an agreement in every case. This
simplified system has been widely welcomed by both employers
and employees and it is now proposed to apply it to a wider
range of claims.
Till now the simplified system has applied only to
claims for injuries resulting in temporary incapacity for not
more than 14 days. The present Bill proposes to extend it to
cover any case in which no permanent incapacity is involved.
Injuries causing permanent incapacity will continue to be dealt
with by the 2 tier Compensation Board system introduced in
December 1982. The simplified system now covers about
75% of all employee compensation cases. The effect of the