EMPLOYMENT
respectively. Details of the distribution of establishments and employment by industry group are shown at Appendices 20 and 21, respectively.
Wages
Wage rates are calculated on a time basis, either daily or monthly, or on an incentive basis according to the volume of work performed. The average wage rate for employees up to the supervisory level, including daily-rated and monthly-rated employees, increased by 7 per cent in money terms between September 1994 and September 1995. After discounting for rises in consumer prices, the average wage rate decreased by 1.8 per cent in real terms.
In September 1995, the average monthly wage rate for the supervisory, technical, clerical and miscellaneous non-production workers in the wholesale, retail and import and export trades, restaurants and hotels sector was $10,153. This represented an increase of 7.2 per cent in money terms, but a decrease of 1.6 per cent in real terms, when compared with the same period of 1994.
At the same time, the average wage rate in the manufacturing sector rose by 5.6 per cent in money terms, equivalent to a decline of 3.1 per cent in real terms. For workers at the craftsman and operative levels in the manufacturing sector, 75 per cent received a daily wage of $210 or more in September 1995; while 25 per cent received $333 or more. The overall average daily wage was $280, or $7,087 per month, for these craftsmen and operatives.
Employee Benefits
The Employment Ordinance stipulates employment-related benefits and entitlements for employees including rest days, statutory holidays, annual leave, maternity leave, sickness allowance, severance payment and long-service payment. Many employers provide employees with additional fringe benefits and bonuses, such as year-end bonus of one month's pay or more before the Lunar New Year.
Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes
In January 1995, the government published the results of a consultation exercise on the proposed Old Age Pension Scheme which concluded that public opinion on the scheme was, at best, divided. The 6 665 submissions indicated that there would be greater public acceptance of a mandatory, privately managed provident fund system, particularly if it could be set up early. A system of mandatory provident fund (MPF) schemes is contained in the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance enacted in July 1995. The government will bring together the subsidiary legislation in about two years, the target being to have the MPF System in operation by mid-1997.
Under the MPF System, employees and employers will each contribute 5 per cent of the employee's income to a registered scheme. The accrued benefits will be fully vested and can be carried from one scheme to another when an employee changes job. A self-employed person will have to contribute 5 per cent of his income. Benefits will be preserved until retirement.
People coming from a place outside Hong Kong to work for a limited period, or who already have a home country retirement scheme, will be exempt from the provisions of the MPF Schemes Ordinance. The ordinance provides for the partial or complete exemption of employees covered by schemes registered under the
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