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Employment
against employers who wilfully and without reasonable excuse fail to pay sums awarded by the Labour Tribunal or Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board.
In 2017, the department secured 766 convictions for wage offences and 126 convictions for failure to pay sums awarded by the tribunal or the board. One employer and four company directors were sentenced to imprisonment for these offences, and another company director was ordered to perform community service.
Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund
The fund provides timely relief in the form of ex gratia payment covering outstanding wages, wages in lieu of notice, severance payment, pay for untaken annual leave and pay for untaken statutory holidays to employees affected by their insolvent employers. It is financed mainly by a levy on business registration certificates. In 2017, the fund made ex gratia payments totalling $79.6 million to 2,640 applicants and recorded a surplus of $336 million.
Employees' Compensation
The employees' compensation regime follows the 'no-fault' compensation principle, whereby compensation is payable regardless of whether the injury, prescribed occupational disease or death is due to the employee's fault. The Employees' Compensation Ordinance covers injury or death caused by accidents arising from and in the course of employment, or by prescribed occupational diseases. An employer must have a valid employees' compensation insurance policy to cover liabilities under the laws, including common law. Labour inspectors conduct workplace inspections to ensure employers have taken out such insurance.
The department helps injured employees and the families of deceased employees get compensation from their employers under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance. It helps employers and employees better understand their rights and obligations under the ordinance through talks, leaflets, the media platform at hospitals, and journals of employers' associations and trade unions.
An Employees Compensation Assistance Scheme administered by the Employees Compensation Assistance Fund Board provides assistance payment to injured employees or family members of deceased employees who fail to receive the entitled compensation after exhausting all legally and financially viable means of recovery. The Occupational Deafness Compensation Scheme, administered by the Occupational Deafness Compensation Board, provides compensation for persons employed in specified noisy occupations who suffer hearing loss as a result of prolonged exposure to excessive noise at work, and financial assistance for hearing assistive devices. Both schemes are financed by a levy imposed on all employees' compensation insurance policies taken out by employers.
Pneumoconiosis and/or mesothelioma sufferers are eligible for compensation under the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance administered by the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board. The fund is financed by a levy imposed on the construction and quarrying industries. Those diagnosed to have contracted pneumoconiosis before the ordinance became effective in 1981 may apply for ex gratia payments from the government under the Pneumoconiosis Ex Gratia Scheme.
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