ENG-1999 — Page 169

EMPLOYMENT

$619 million. Of these cases, 97.5 per cent were referred by the Labour Relations Division of the Labour Department after unsuccessful conciliation attempts.

Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board

The Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board adjudicates claims under the Employment Ordinance and in accordance with individual employment contracts. The board hears and determines employment claims involving not more than 10 claimants for a sum of money not exceeding $8,000 per claimant.

During the year, the board heard 2 668 cases and made awards amounting to $7 million.

Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund

The Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund is financed by an annual levy of $250 on each business registration certificate. Employees who are owed wages and other employment termination benefits by their insolvent employers may apply to the fund for ex gratia payment.

The fund covers arrears of wages not exceeding $36,000 accrued during a period of four months preceding the applicant's last day of service and wages in lieu of notice for termination of employment up to $22,500 or one month's wages, whichever is less. On February 5, 1999, the fund's coverage for severance payment was raised to $50,000 plus 50 per cent of any entitlement in excess of $50,000. The fund received 16 632 applications and paid out a total of $495.1 million to 14 471 applicants in 1999.

Tackling Unemployment

The Employment Services Division (ESD) of the Labour Department provides free recruitment assistance to employers and placement service to job-seekers through its network of 11 Local Employment Service (LES) offices, including two employment and guidance centres for new arrivals. Through the Job Matching Programme (JMP), the division provides intensive job-matching and counselling service to unemployed job-seekers.

The division also operates the Outreaching Placement Service which offers registration service at the workplace to the affected workers in major retrenchments. Promotional activities such as job bazaars and exhibitions are organised under the Employment Information and Promotion Programme to enhance the awareness of both employers and job-seekers of the employment services provided by the Labour Department.

Further to implementing a series of new initiatives on employment service introduced by the Task Force on Employment in 1998, the Labour Department continued to enhance the service in 1999. A package of new measures and facilities incorporating new technology, new concepts, as well as targeted, personalised and value-added services was introduced. These measures included: implementing a simplified registration procedure at all LES offices; setting up the Telephone Employment Service Centre to enable registrants to obtain job referrals and interviews with prospective employers by telephone; introducing a one-stop employment service for domestic helpers through setting up a special counter and appointing a designated placement officer in each LES office to assist them to find

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