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Employment

Labour Advisory Board

The Labour Advisory Board, a representative tripartite consultative body, advises the Commissioner for Labour on labour matters including legislation and ILO conventions and recommendations. It is chaired by the commissioner and has 12 other members, with six representing employers and six representing employees. An election was held on 12 November to elect employee representatives for the next two-year term of the board.

Employment Services

The Labour Department provides a wide range of free employment and recruitment services to job-seekers and employers through 13 job centres, three recruitment centres for the catering, retail and construction industries, a Telephone Employment Service Centre and a Job Vacancy Processing Centre. Round-the-clock employment services are available concurrently through an Interactive Employment Service website and its mobile application. In 2016, the website recorded about 220 million page views, or an average of 610,000 per day, while its mobile app registered 150 million hits. An employment information e-platform was launched in December to strengthen employment support for job-seekers with higher education.

The department also organises large-scale, district-based and thematic job fairs. For major closure or retrenchment cases, it will set up a telephone hotline and special counters at job centres to provide priority job referral services for affected workers.

In 2016, the department registered 63,814 job-seekers and made about 149,800 job placements. It recorded 1,347,613 private-sector vacancies, similar to that received in 2015.

Employment Programme for the Middle-aged

Employers who engage eligible people aged 40 or above and give them on-the-job training receive a maximum training allowance of $3,000 per month per employee for three to six months. In 2016, 2,978 middle-aged job-seekers were employed under this programme.

Work Trial Scheme

Each participant who completes a one-month work trial receives $6,900 from the department, of which $500 is paid by the organisation in which the participant served. In 2016, 192 people with difficulties in finding jobs took part in the trials.

Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Scheme

This scheme helps low-income earners reduce their cost of travelling to and from work and encourages them to secure and stay in employment. Applicants can apply on an individual or household basis. In 2016, 48,128 workers received the subsidy. The department completed a review of the scheme and rolled out enhancement measures.

People with Disabilities

The department helps people with disabilities who are fit for open employment to seek jobs. It provides free employment counselling and placement services to people who are formerly mentally ill or have conditions such as hearing or visual impairment, physical handicap, chronic

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