XN000022-1997-02-25 — Page 21

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In the article "Mortality and morbidity of heart diseases in Hong Kong, 1971 - 1994", particular emphasis is given to coronary heart disease which has emerged as the top killer in Hong Kong in recent years.

The February 1997 issue of the Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics is now on sale at $34 a copy. Apart from the above two feature articles, it contains the most up-to-date information on Hong Kong's development regarding economic growth, labour market, inflation and many other social and economic issues.

Purchase of this publication can be made at the Government Publications Centre, Ground Floor, Low Block, Queensway Government Offices, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong. The publication is also available for sale at the Publications Unit of the Census and Statistics Department, 19th Floor, Wanchai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Regular subscription can also be arranged with the Publications Sales Office of the Information Services Department (Tel : 2598 8196).

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Injured employees should not be dismissed

The Labour Department today (Tuesday) reminded employers not to terminate the service of an employee who sustained work injury. Otherwise, they would face severe punishment.

The warning was made following a recent court case in which the owner of Marco Polo Pizza in Cheung Sha Wan was fined $20,000 for dismissing an injured employee before a relevant certificate of assessment was issued.

Labour Officer (Prosecutions), Mr Raymond Ho, said that under Section 48 of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (ECO), an employer was not permitted to dismiss an injured employee suffering from temporary incapacity for more than three days before the Commissioner for Labour or an Ordinary Assessment Board or a Special Assessment Board had issued the relevant Certificate of Assessment, or before the employer and the employee had entered into an agreement to settle the compensation direct for periods of temporary incapacity not exceeding seven days, whichever occurred the earliest.

"With effect from January 1 this year, an amendment has been made to the ECO to remove the more than three-day requirement for entitlement to periodical payments of injured employees," Mr Ho said.