Employment ❘ 129
To ensure accreditation of the ERB courses by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications and their recognition under the Qualifications Framework, the ERB has been strengthening its quality assurance mechanism and standardising the practical skill assessments of its courses.
To provide diverse training and employment support services to the community, the ERB runs a Training Resource Centre in Kowloon East and a pilot one-stop Training-cum-Employment Resource Centre in Kowloon West. To enhance the employment opportunities of its graduates, the ERB has developed two service brands, namely, 'Healthcare Massage Integrated Scheme' and 'Integrated Scheme for Local Domestic Helpers' through which services can be obtained. The services include domestic help, post-natal care, infant and child care, elderly care and health care massage.
The Government stopped providing recurrent subvention to the ERB this year. Since then, its main income has come from the Employees Retraining Levy collected from employers of imported workers who include foreign domestic helpers. The levy goes to the Employees Retraining Fund (ERF), which is administered by the ERB. The ERB should be able to rely on what is left over in the ERF to support its operations during the five-year suspension of Government subvention which started on August 1.
Continuing Education Fund
A $5 billion Continuing Education Fund was launched in June 2002 to subsidise adults who wish to pursue continuing education and training courses in specified sectors/domains, or courses designed in accordance with the specifications of competency standards drawn up for respective industries and registered under the Qualifications Register. Eligible applicants are reimbursed 80 per cent of their fees, up to $10,000 per person, on successful completion of a reimbursable course or module forming part of the course. Over 451 000 applications had been received by the end of 2008.
Labour Relations
Labour relations in Hong Kong remained harmonious. In 2008, the Labour Department's Labour Relations Division handled 120 trade disputes, a fall of 3 per cent from 2007. There were four work stoppages, resulting in the loss of 1 408 working days. The average loss was 0.46 working days per 1 000 salaried employees and wage earners. The average loss of working days per 1 000 employees and wage earners in Hong Kong is among the lowest in the world. During the year, the division handled 20 623 claims for wages and other employment-related benefits or entitlements. This represented a decrease of 5 per cent from 2007. The division settled 72.7 per cent of all disputes and claims it handled in 2008 the highest success rate in 14 years.
The Labour Department organises a wide variety of activities such as talks, seminars and exhibitions to enhance public understanding of the Employment