XN000022-1996-05-08 — Page 32

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Employees' Compensation (Amendment) Bill

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Joseph W P Wong, in moving the second reading of the Employees' Compensation (Amendment) Bill 1996 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President.

I move the Second Reading of the Employees' Compensation (Amendment) Bill 1996.

The main purpose of the Bill is two-fold. First, it seeks to improve the mechanism for settlement of compensation claims. Secondly, it seeks to increase the levels of maximum fines which were last revised in 1992.

Currently, there are two parallel systems for determining the amount of compensation for cases involving permanent incapacity. The first is the Certificate System. Under this system, if the loss of earning capacity assessed by the Assessment Board is not more than five per cent, the Commissioner for Labour issues a certificate to determine the amount of compensation payable. The second is the Agreement System. Under this system, if the loss of earning capacity is more than five per cent, the amount of compensation is agreed between the employer and the injured employee subject to the minimum level provided by the Ordinance. The amount should be approved by the Commissioner for Labour before it becomes binding.

Experience shows that the existence of two systems has caused confusion to some employers and employees. Also, by its very nature, the Agreement System is a more time-consuming process. The Bill therefore proposes to repeal the Agreement System and to extend the Certificate System to cover all cases involving permanent incapacity irrespective of the degree of loss of earning capacity.

As regards the levels of maximum fines for offences under the Ordinance, we propose to revise them as set out in the Bill so as to ensure a sufficiently deterrent effect and to maintain relativity with offences of a similar nature under the Employment Ordinance.

The Bill also seeks to expand the definition of "dependants" to include males so as to provide equal protection for both sexes. We further propose a more comprehensive definition of "member of the family" by including son-in-law, brother- in-law, father-in-law and mother-in-law.