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EMPLOYMENT
During the year, 4096 applications were received and 3 549 were approved, with payments totalling $9.9 million.
Maternity Leave
Female employees were entitled, as from July 1987, to maternity protection from the date a notice of pregnancy and intention to take maternity leave is served on the em- ployer. Previously, maternity protection began only 12 weeks before the start of the maternity leave.
The Labour Tribunal
The Labour Tribunal, which is part of the judiciary, is intended to provide a quick, inexpensive and informal method of adjudicating certain types of dispute between employees and employers, with a minimum of formality. The tribunal deals with claims of right, wherever possible in the language of the parties.
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In 1988, the tribunal heard 3 182 cases involving employees as claimants, and a further 482 cases in which the claims were initiated by employers. More than $24 million was awarded by the presiding officers. Of the cases dealt with by the tribunal, 90.52 per cent were referred by the Labour Relations Service after unsuccessful conciliation attempts.
Finding Employment
The Local Employment Service of the Labour Department provides free placement services to help employers recruit staff and job-seekers to find suitable employment. It operates from 15 offices linked by a facsimile system for the rapid exchange of vacancy information. The Central Recruitment Unit is a central agency for all government departments to use in the recruitment of non-pensionable staff, such as artisans, drivers and workmen. It also co-ordinates employment services provided to large private concerns with territory-wide recruitment needs. During the year, 26 071 people were placed in employment, including 5 523 who found jobs in the Public Service. The service also organised three ‘job bazaars' to help participating companies from different trades and industries to recruit staff and to attract potential workers. Publicity efforts through the mass media and promotional visits were also intensified to encourage more people to use these free employment services.
The Higher Education Employment Service provides free employment assistance to job-seekers who possess either university, post-secondary or professional qualifications. It has computerised its operation to handle job-matching and produce promotional materials. During the year, 317 people found employment through this service. Seminars were also organised to advise job-seekers on job-hunting techniques and employment opportunities. The Selective Placement Division provides a free employment counselling and placement service to the physically disabled, mentally retarded and ex-mentally ill persons seeking open employment. The division operates from offices in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories.
The placement of socially maladjusted job-seekers is the responsibility of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and other voluntary agencies.
During the year, the Selective Placement Division launched a series of activities to publicise its work and to promote the employability of the disabled. Some 1 126 disabled persons were placed in employment in 1988.
Careers Guidance
The Youth Employment Advisory Service of the Labour Department provides careers guidance to young people through various programmes and activities. It was renamed the