### Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board Ordinance 《小額薪酬索償仲裁處條例》

5. Jurisdiction of the Board
(1) Subject to subsection (3), the Board shall have jurisdiction to inquire into, hear and determine the claims specified in the Schedule.
(1A) Without derogation from the generality of subsection (1), the Board shall have jurisdiction to inquire into, hear and determine a claim or counterclaim or set-off and counterclaim transferred to it under section 7 or 10 of the Small Claims Tribunal Ordinance (Cap. 338). (Added 28 of 1999 s. 18)
(2) Save as is provided in this Ordinance, no claim within the jurisdiction of the Board shall be actionable in any court.
(3) The Board shall not have jurisdiction to inquire into, hear or determine—
(a) any claim for a sum of money, or otherwise in respect of a cause of action, founded in tort whether arising from a breach of contract or a breach of duty imposed by a rule of common law or by any enactment; and
(b) any claim submitted to proof in a bankruptcy or winding up under the Bankruptcy Ordinance (Cap. 6) or the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 32). (Amended 28 of 2012 ss. 912 & 920)

6. Power to amend Schedule
The Commissioner may by notice in the Gazette amend the Schedule.

7. Limitation
(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Board shall not have jurisdiction to inquire into, hear or determine a claim or part of a claim if the right of action arose more than 12 months before the date on which the claim is filed, unless the parties to the claim, by a memorandum signed by them and filed with the registrar, have agreed that the Board shall have jurisdiction.
(2) When the right of action in a claim arose partly before and partly after the 12-month period of limitation prescribed by subsection (1), the Board may, with the consent of the parties, sever that part of the claim over which it has no jurisdiction and inquire into, hear and determine the part over which it has jurisdiction. (Amended E.R. 4 of 2020)
(3) Nothing in this section shall preclude the institution of proceedings in the Small Claims Tribunal, the District Court or the Court of First Instance in respect of a claim which, by reason of the expiration of the limitation period prescribed by subsection (1), is not actionable in accordance with this Ordinance. (Amended 25 of 1998 s. 2)

### Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board Ordinance 《小額薪酬索償仲裁處條例》

8. Declining jurisdiction
(1) The Board may, at any stage of the proceedings, either of its own motion or upon the application of any party, decline jurisdiction if it is of the opinion that for any reason the claim should not be inquired into, heard and determined by it.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), where—
(a) a claim is brought by a claimant against a defendant; and
(b) the aggregate of the amount of—
(i) the claim mentioned in paragraph (a); and
(ii) a claim (if any) brought previously by the same claimant against the same defendant which is pending or being heard before the Board,

exceeds the monetary amount mentioned in the Schedule,
the Board may decline jurisdiction in relation to both such claims.
(3) The Board shall, when it declines jurisdiction under subsection (1) or (2), transfer the claim to the Labour Tribunal.

9. Division of causes of action
No claim shall be split or divided and pursued in separate proceedings before the Board for the sole purpose of bringing the sum claimed in each of such proceedings within the jurisdiction of the Board.

10. Abandonment of part claim to give Board jurisdiction
(1) Where a claimant has a claim which exceeds the monetary amount mentioned in the Schedule and which, but for the excess, would be within the jurisdiction of the Board, the claimant may abandon the excess, and thereupon the Board shall have jurisdiction to inquire into, hear and determine the claim.
(2) Where the Board has jurisdiction to inquire into, hear and determine a claim by virtue of this section—
(a) the claimant shall not recover in the claim an amount exceeding the monetary amount mentioned in the Schedule; and
(b) the award of the Board on the claim shall be in full discharge of all demands in respect of the claim.

11. Filing claims
(1) A proceeding before the Board may be commenced by filing a claim with the registrar.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), a claim shall—
(a) be in writing in either the English or Chinese language in such form as the registrar may, subject to section 12, specify; and
(b) be signed by each claimant.
(3) The registrar may permit a claim to be made orally in either English or Chinese and shall cause it to be reduced to writing, in the language in which it is made, and shall supply a copy of the claim to the claimant.

12. Contents of claims
A claim shall contain—
(a) the name and address of each claimant;
(b) the name and address of each defendant;
(c) a statement of the amount of money claimed by each claimant; and
(d) such particulars of the claim as shall be reasonably sufficient to inform the defendant of the grounds for the claim and of the manner in which the amount claimed by each claimant has been calculated.

### Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board Ordinance 《小額薪酬索償仲裁處條例》

13. Service of claim and notice of hearing
(1) The registrar shall, when a claim has been filed—
(a) fix a date and place for hearing the claim; and
(b) cause a copy of the claim, together with a notice of the date and place of hearing, to be served on every party concerned in the manner specified in subsection (2).
(2) Service of a copy of the claim and the notice of the date and place of hearing shall be effected—
(a) by delivering them personally to the parties concerned;
(b) by leaving them with some person for a party concerned at his last known place of residence or business;
(c) by sending them by post addressed to a party concerned at his last known place of residence or business; or
(d) in such other manner as the registrar may think fit.

14. Conciliation certificate and settlement
(1) The Board shall not hear a claim until a certificate signed by an authorized officer is filed with the registrar to the effect that—
(a) one or more of the parties have refused to take part in conciliation;
(b) conciliation has been attempted but no settlement has been reached;
(c) conciliation is unlikely to result in a settlement being reached; or
(d) conciliation may prejudice the interests of a party.
(2) If a settlement of a claim is reached, the terms of the settlement shall be reduced to writing in such form as the registrar may specify and signed by the parties to the settlement.
(3) A settlement, which has been reduced to writing and signed by the parties thereto, shall be filed with the registrar.
(4) A settlement filed under subsection (3) shall be treated for all purposes as if it were an award of the Board.