136 || Employment
members to promote good labour management practices and effective employer- employee communication.
The department holds talks, exhibitions and issues promotional materials to encourage more employers to adopt family-friendly employment practices to help employees better balance their work and family responsibilities.
Trade Unions
The Registry of Trade Unions administers the Trade Unions Ordinance and promotes good and responsible trade union management. Once registered, a trade union becomes a body corporate and enjoys immunity from certain civil suits.
In 2011, 15 new unions were registered, bringing the number of registered trade unions to 836, comprising 788 employee unions, 18 employers' associations and 30 mixed organisations of employees and employers. There are also eight registered trade union federations, including one which registered in 2011. Declared membership of employee unions over the past five years has remained at around 710 000. The trade union participation rate was around 22 per cent over the same period.
About half of the employee unions are affiliated to four major labour organisations registered under the Societies Ordinance. The four major labour organisations are the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (183 unions), the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council (32 unions), the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions (72 unions), and the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (80 unions).
Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board
The Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board determines claims arising from disputes of statutory or contractual rights of employment. The board hears and adjudicates employment claims that involve not more than 10 claimants in each case and for sums not exceeding $8,000 per claimant. During the year, the board dealt with 1 845 claims and approved awards amounting to $4.02 million.
Labour Tribunal
The Labour Tribunal is part of the Judiciary. It provides a quick, inexpensive and informal method of adjudicating disputes between employees and employers, that are not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board.
In 2011, some 4 190 cases were filed with the tribunal, of which 4 097 were initiated by employees and 93 by employers. Of these, 87.9 per cent were referred to the tribunal by the Labour Department's Labour Relations Division after unsuccessful conciliation attempts. During the year, the tribunal dealt with 4 002 cases and granted awards totalling more than $195 million, or 676 cases and $24 million less than in 2010.
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