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Employment
There were 4,646 prosecutions for breaches of various ordinances and regulations administered by the Labour Department in 2013, resulting in fines totalling more than $21.22 million.
International Labour Affairs
Hong Kong applies 41 international labour conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). These conventions set standards that have a significant bearing on the formulation of Hong Kong's labour laws.
Hong Kong continued to participate actively in ILO activities in 2013, keeping itself abreast of international labour issues. In June, a team comprising representatives of employers, employees and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attended the 102nd Session of the International Labour Conference as part of the People's Republic of China delegation.
Labour Advisory Board
The Labour Advisory Board, a representative tripartite consultative body, advises the Commissioner for Labour on labour matters and ILO conventions and recommendations. It is chaired by the Commissioner for Labour and comprises six members representing employers and six representing employees.
Five standing committees of the board deal separately with employees' compensation, employment services, occupational safety and health, labour relations and implementation of international labour standards. A working group under the board deals with applications for labour importation under the Supplementary Labour Scheme.
Employment Services
The Labour Department provides a wide range of free employment and recruitment services to job seekers and employers through 12 job centres (including a one-stop employment and training centre), two recruitment centres for the catering and retail industries, a Telephone Employment Service Centre and a Job Vacancy Processing Centre. Round-the-clock employment services are also provided through the Interactive Employment Service website (www.jobs.gov.hk), which recorded 0.38 billion page views in 2013, or an average page view of 1.04 million per day. The department also organises large-scale and district-based job fairs to help job seekers find jobs, and employers recruit workers. For major closure or retrenchment cases, the department will set up a telephone hotline and special counters at job centres to provide priority job referral services for the workers affected.
In 2013, 82,748 job seekers registered with the Labour Department and there were 156,727 job placements. The department also recorded 1,216,735 private sector vacancies, an all-time high figure and an increase of 6.3 per cent when compared with 2012.
Employment Programme for the Middle-aged
In 2013, 2,562 middle-aged job seekers were employed under this programme, which gives employers who engage eligible middle-aged people and provide them with on-the-job training a training allowance of $3,000 per month per employee for three to six months.
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