Employees' compensation improved
A number of improvements to the Employees' Compensation Ordinance will take effect today (Monday).
These improvements made under the Employees' Compensation (Amendment) Bill 1996 have been passed by the Legislative Council on May 29 and the ordinance was gazetted on June 7.
A spokesman for the Labour Department explained that the amending ordinance would improve the mechanism for settlement of compensation claims and increase the levels of maximum fines.
He said under the existing provisions, there were two parallel systems for determining the amounts of compensation for permanent incapacity.
"For cases where the loss of earning capacity is not more than five per cent, the amount of compensation is assessed and certified by the Commissioner for Labour under the Certificate System," said the spokesman.
"Under the Agreement System, if the loss of earning incapacity is over five per cent, the amount is agreed between the employer and the employee subject to the minimum level provided by the law.
"For cases settled by certificate, the Labour Department has pledged to issue a certificate within three weeks of the assessment of the loss of earning capacity by an assessment board.
"The Agreement System involves a more time-consuming procedure as it requires both the employer and the injured employee to agree on the amount of compensation. The average time taken is 55 days.
"In order to reduce the time for determining the amount of compensation and avoid the confusion caused by the two systems, the Agreement System has been repealed whereas the Certificate System will be extended to all cases irrespective of the degree of loss of earning capacity."
Under the Employees' Compensation (Amendment) Ordinance 1996, the definition of "dependants" has been expanded under which the word "woman" has been replaced by "person" so that both sexes are entitled to equal protection.