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Reply:
Mr President.
(a)
(b)
At present, 123 Labour Inspectors are deployed, among other duties, to inspect industrial and non-industrial establishments to ensure that employers have taken out employees' compensation insurance policies for their employees. The existing staff establishment is adequate to cope with such work.
The number of cases detected by the Labour Department involving employers who had failed to take out employees' compensation insurance policies in the past three years were: 692 în 1993, 849 in 1994 and 726 in 1995. Most of these cases were detected by Labour Inspectors during regular inspections while the remainder came to light during investigation of complaints or work-related injuries. The Labour Department had prosecuted those offenders where prima facie cases were established. For cases of a minor nature or where no prosecution witness could be secured, warnings were issued to the employers concerned. The detailed breakdown is as follows:
1993
1994
1995
Cases of failure to take
692
849
726
out insurance policy
Cases detected during
660
802
660
inspections
No of summonses issued
353
347
530
No of summonses convicted
331
331
514
Amount of fines on conviction
$400 -
$500 -
$800 -
$12,000
$14,000
$20,000
The statutory requirement of the insured amounts are specified in the Fourth Schedule of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance. No employer has been found taking out insurance policy below the statutory limit since its enactment in 1995.
End