LCQ20: Temporary Unemployment Relief Scheme
6.7.2022

Following is a question by the Hon Kwok Wai-keung and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (July 6): Question: The Temporary Unemployment Relief Scheme (the Scheme) launched by the Government under the sixth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund received a total of 470 628 applications. According to the statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) for the period from December last year to February this year, the number of applicants under the Scheme accounted for 12.3 per cent of the total labour force (about 3 830 000), nearly three times higher than the number of unemployed persons (about 162 000). In this connection, will the Government inform this council: (1) of the following information on the Scheme: (i) the number of applicants working in scheduled premises regulated under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F) whose operation had to be suspended; (ii) the number of applicants who had been continuously unemployed for at least 30 days at the time of application; (iii) the number of applicants who have been requested to submit supplementary information, together with a breakdown by application result; (iv) the number of applicants rejected, together with a breakdown by reason; and (v) the number of applicants whose applications have been handled with discretion; (2) as there are comments pointing out that there are significant discrepancies between the number of unemployed persons as released by the C&SD and the number of applicants under the Scheme, indicating that the Government's unemployment statistics have completely failed to reflect the actual situation, whether the authorities will conduct a comprehensive review on the relevant statistical method; if so, of the details; and (3) given that the Scheme allowed applicants with some of their employment incomes not recorded in their accounts under Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) schemes (e.g. employees whose employers had not opened accounts for them as the period of employment was less than 60 days) or whose incomes were not effectively reflected under MPF schemes (e.g. employees aged 65 or above whose employers had not made voluntary contributions or declarations for them) to choose to provide documents other than those related to MPF accounts as income proof, of the number of applicants who submitted income proof in the aforesaid manner; whether it will consider introducing the same arrangements to other unemployment relief measures? Reply: President, The Government's reply to Hon Kwok Wai-keung's question is as follows: (1) Among the 470 000 applications received under the Temporary Unemployment Relief Scheme (the Scheme), about 130 000 applicants claimed on the application form that they had been "employed in the selected premises restricted by Cap. 599F" while some 330 000 applicants claimed that they had been "continuously unemployed for at least 30 days". As at June 24, a total of about 342 000 applications have been approved under the Scheme, including those that were approved by the Government on discretionary basis. The Government does not maintain statistics for these cases, but the categories of such cases include those that are only one or two days short of the 30-day unemployment/work suspension requirements, cases where an applicant has been engaged in some casual work during the unemployment period, and cases that are considered to have met the income threshold by adopting a lenient approach in calculation. The reasons for rejecting 128 000 applications and their respective numbers are tabulated below: Reason for rejection Number of cases 1. Information of the application could not prove the eligibility of the applicant (e.g. no proof of unemployment or suspension of work was provided; application information could not prove that the work place is a selected premises restricted under Cap. 599F; no contact information of the employer, person-in-charge of the work place or customers was provided; the supplementary information provided contradicts the information on the application form or Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) records, etc.) 51 940 2. The monthly income from October to December 2021 did not meet the requirement of between $2,700 and $30,000 36 170 3. Claimed to have been requested not to work temporarily by the employer, but the place of work is not a selected premises restricted under Cap. 599F 21 140 4. The number of days of unemployment/suspension of work is less than the requirement when submitting the application (the Government has already exercised discretion in approving cases in which unemployment/suspension of work only lasted for 28 or 29 days) 12 340 5. Resigned/stopped work on personal grounds or own accord 3 780 6. The applicant is a recipient of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme, or a beneficiary of the specified measures under the sixth round Anti-epidemic Fund 2 230 7. Others (e.g. not meeting the requirement of having worked in Hong Kong for at least one month between October and December 2021) 440 âMany applicants have submitted incomplete information. When vetting the applications, the Government-appointed agents will request supplementary information from applicants by different means such as e-mails, SMSs or telephone calls, but we have not compiled any statistics on such cases. (2) According to the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4 per cent in February - April 2022. Over the same period, the underemployment rate was 3.8 per cent. The number of unemployed persons (not seasonally adjusted) was 206 100 while the number of underemployed persons was 142 000, which together amounted to 348 000. The 470 000 applications refer to the number of applications received by the Government under the Scheme. We understand that quite a number of applicants have attempted to submit an application, despite the fact that they are not eligible under the Scheme. The 342 000 eligible cases approved include people who were unemployed, those who were requested to stop work temporarily by the employers, and those engaged in some casual work during their unemployed period, which covers both unemployment and underemployment as defined by the C&SD. In fact, the number of applications approved under the Scheme is comparable to the total number of unemployed and underemployed persons in February - April 2022. Besides, it is noteworthy that the definition of unemployment by the C&SD and the criteria for unemployment under the Scheme are two different concepts. The Scheme only requires the applicant to have been continuously unemployed for at least 30 days (including the date of submitting the application), whereas the C&SD has adopted the definition suggested by the International Labour Organization that other than not having a job, persons who are classified as unemployed in the labour force must have sought work and are available for work anytime. For example, people who did not look for a job after dismissal during the epidemic as they had stayed home to take care of their children whose classes were suspended due to the epidemic, or those who did not seek work due to the severity of the epidemic situation, are not defined as unemployed persons in the official statistics. However, they are still eligible under the Scheme. (3) The Temporary Unemployment Relief Scheme is a one-off measure under the sixth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund, with the aim to provide assistance to people who have lost their jobs due to the fifth wave of the epidemic and to reduce their financial stress before they find another job. Among the 470 000 applications, about 210 000 applicants have provided documents other than MPF accounts as their income proof in their applications. MPF account data are reliable third-party information to help verify the eligibility of applicants effectively and promptly, and reduce the likelihood of abuse. Accepting income proof other than those in the MPF accounts is a special arrangement under the Scheme, having regard to the unique nature of the Scheme, in particular noting that many of those who have become unemployed or have been forced to stop work due to the fifth wave of the epidemic are grassroots workers without an MPF account. After balancing factors such as the objective of the Scheme, the impact on public funds and the risk of abuse, we have decided to adopt the relevant arrangements.