. 9.
As for the proposals regarding compensation for work-related injuries, the spokesman said under the existing Employees' Compensation Ordinance (ECO), an employee who had been incapacitated by a work-related injury for more than three consecutive days would be entitled to periodical payments at the rate of two-thirds the difference between his monthly earnings at the time of the accident and his monthly earnings after the accident, and medical expenses.
"Taking into account International Labour Conventions No 17 and No 121 on Workmen's Compensation for Accidents and Employment Injury Benefits respectively, the provisions on work-injury benefits in our neighbouring countries as well as the sentiment of employees and employers, the Administration has conducted a thorough review of the current provisions on periodical payments," the spokesman said.
As a result, the Government proposes that:
the current waiting period of three days before an employee qualifies for both periodical payments and medical expenses should be removed, so that both these payments will become payable to an employee suffering temporary incapacity as a result of work- related injuries, irrespective of the duration of such incapacity; and
the rate of periodical payments should be increased from two-thirds to four-fifths of normal earnings. The spokesman said arising from the proposals, the Administration had also reviewed both the existing compensation settlement mechanism under ECO and the adjudication procedures for the recovery of compensation claims.
"We anticipate that the proposal to enable an employee to receive compensation for temporary incapacity without any qualifying period of incapacity may lead to a considerable increase in the number of compensation claims for periodical payments.
"Besides, an employee incapacitated for not more than three consecutive days as a result of work usually suffers a lesser degree of injury and that the relevant compensation claim should be relatively straightforward when compared to those incapacitated for a longer period of time.
"Hence, the Government proposes to simplify the notification procedure. Specifically, we will require employers of employees who have been incapacitated as a result of work-related injuries for a period not exceeding three days to report less information in notifying the Commissioner for Labour of the accident, in a new form specified administratively by the Commissioner.