ENG-2014 — Page 148

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Employment

Hong Kong continued to participate actively in ILO activities in 2014, keeping itself abreast of international labour issues. In June, a team comprising representatives of employers, employees and the government attended the 103rd Session of the International Labour Conference as part of the People's Republic of China delegation.

Labour Advisory Board

The Labour Advisory Board, a representative tripartite consultative body, advises the Commissioner for Labour on labour matters and ILO conventions and recommendations. It is chaired by the Commissioner for Labour and comprises six members representing employers and six representing employees.

Five committees of the board dealt separately with employees' compensation, employment services, occupational safety and health, labour relations and implementation of international labour standards. A working group under the board dealt with applications for labour importation under the Supplementary Labour Scheme.

Employment Services

The Labour Department provides a wide range of free employment and recruitment services to job seekers and employers through 13 job centres, two recruitment centres for the catering and retail industries, a Telephone Employment Service Centre and a Job Vacancy Processing Centre. Round-the-clock employment services are also available through the Interactive Employment Service website, which recorded 0.28 billion page views in 2014, or an average page view of 0.78 million per day. The department also organises large-scale and district-based job fairs to help job seekers find jobs, and employers recruit workers. For major closure or retrenchment cases, the department will set up a telephone hotline and special counters at job centres to provide priority job referral services for affected workers.

In 2014, 75,314 job seekers registered with the Labour Department and there were about 151,500 job placements. The department also recorded 1,220,405 private sector vacancies, similar to that received in 2013.

Employment Programme for the Middle-aged

In 2014, 2,564 middle-aged job seekers were employed under this programme, which gave employers, who engaged eligible people aged 40 or above and provided them with on-the-job training, a maximum training allowance of $3,000 per month per employee for three to six months.

Work Trial Scheme

In 2014, 276 job seekers with difficulties in finding jobs took part in the Work Trial Scheme. On completion of the one-month trial, each participant receives $6,400 from the Labour Department, of which $500 is paid by the organisation in which the participant served.

Employment in One-stop

This one-stop employment and training centre in Tin Shui Wai provides employment and training to needy job seekers, including unemployed able-bodied recipients of Comprehensive

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