kakase/hk_gov_press_release huggingface dataset:
Award Ceremony of Most Improved Trainees of the Youth Employment and Training Programme 2022 held today (with photos)
26.8.2022

The Award Ceremony of Most Improved Trainees of the Youth Employment and Training Programme (YETP) 2022, co-organised by the Labour Department (LD) and Radio 2 of Radio Television Hong Kong, was held today (August 26) to commend the distinguished trainees of the YETP run by the LD. The award ceremony was themed "Seize the Future". Most Improved Trainees Awards were presented to 10 outstanding trainees who achieved significant improvements in personal development, leadership or work performance during the training period. Merit Awards were also given to 10 other trainees to encourage them to work hard in realising their career goals. Speaking at the award ceremony, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, said that President Xi Jinping highlighted the need to love and care for Hong Kong young people in an important speech delivered on July 1. He stressed that the Government all along attaches great importance to the development of young people, and strives to enhance their competitiveness and unleash their potential to contribute to the development of Hong Kong by providing comprehensive training and employment opportunities in collaboration with social partners. Mr Sun also expressed gratitude to stakeholders for the efforts they made for the trainees. He pointed out that the advancement of the awardees had not come easy. Apart from their own dedication, the concerted efforts of employers, service providers and case managers in providing them work opportunities, training and support were indispensable. He encouraged young people to equip themselves, seize every opportunity and make every effort to build a splendid future. The YETP is open to young school leavers aged 15 to 24 with educational attainment at sub-degree level or below. Enrolment for the YETP is free of charge and on a year-round basis. Services offered include pre-employment training, workplace attachment training, on-the-job salaried training, and case management services provided by registered social workers. An off-the-job vocational training allowance and a retention allowance are also provided to eligible trainees. More than 240 000 young people have benefited since the commencement of the programme. For details, please visit the YETP's website at www.yes.labour.gov.hk . The LD has also set up a Youth Employment Services hotline at 2112 9932 to provide a one-stop enquiry service regarding the programme and receive registrations of on-the-job training vacancies from employers.
SLW inspects Children's Residential Home (with photos)
12.8.2022

The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, inspected the Children's Residential Home (CRH) of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children (HKSPC) this afternoon (August 12) to take a closer look at the progress of its revamp project and the conditions of children under residential care. The Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Ms Alice Lau, also joined the visit. Mr Sun was first briefed by the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the HKSPC, Mr Robin Hammond, and the Superintendent of the CRH, Ms Loretta Cheung, on the implementation progress of a series of improvement measures recommended by the Independent Review Committee appointed by the HKSPC. Mr Sun looked into the progress of its revamp project in collaboration with the Council of Non-profit Making Organizations for Pre-primary Education, including the effectiveness of enhanced management, strengthened training and an expanded manning ratio. He then visited the CRH's facilities and chatted with children under residential care and frontline personnel respectively. Since the CRH incident, the Government has taken immediate enhancement measures in some of the prevailing residential child care services, including requiring all Residential Child Care Centres (RCCCs) to install closed-circuit television monitoring systems and formulating policies and mechanisms for proactive monitoring and reviewing of footage; incorporating former law enforcement agency staff and health inspectors into multi-disciplinary inspection teams; and requesting tertiary institutions providing relevant courses to incorporate elements of child protection into their curriculums. Mr Sun said, "The CRH incident was distressing. Stringent follow-up action must be taken to learn from this painful lesson and ensure the implementation of improvement measures in every aspect of the HKSPC is effective, in place and sustainable, in order to achieve its mission on children protection. The Committee on Review of Residential Child Care and Related Services chaired by the Director of Social Welfare has substantially completed its review on RCCC services and the first-phase review report is expected to be completed within this month. The second phase of the review will cover other related child care services, with the aim of completion by March next year." The Labour and Welfare Bureau has taken forward the legislation on a mandatory reporting mechanism of child abuse cases and will consult stakeholders on its implementation details in due course, with the target of introducing a bill into the Legislative Council in the first half of next year. The Social Welfare Department is also planning appropriate training for practitioners in the relevant professions with a view to enhancing their capacity for early identification and handling of child abuse cases.
Transcript of remarks by SLW on serious incident at Hong Kong Coliseum and heat stroke at media session
6.8.2022

Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, on the serious incident at Hong Kong Coliseum and heat stroke at a media session after attending a radio programme this morning (August 6): Reporter: Mr Sun, can you explain if dancers of the concert signed a self-employed contract, is the Government trying to ascertain whether or not they are actually self-employed, and how does it work even if they signed such a self-employed contract? Secretary for Labour and Welfare: We are helping them. It depends on the facts, rather than what kind of documents signed. So, right now the Labour Department is in the process of seeking information from the concerned companies and also liaising with the dancers. We hope that, with our mediation, they will be able to determine later on whether or not these dancers are self-employed or they are indeed employees. It depends on the facts. Ultimately, if they cannot come to a consensus about their status, eventually it has to be determined by court; but we hope, with our help and assistance, we will be able to find out what exactly their status is, i.e. they are employees or self-employed. Reporter: Mr Sun, with regards to heat stroke, can you explain why it should not be an occupational disease when workers working outside are actually working when they suffer from heat stroke? Secretary for Labour and Welfare: For workers suffering from heat stroke, it is for sure a work injury, but it is a scientific issue to determine whether or not heat stroke should be classified as an occupational disease. For any disease to be classified as an occupational disease, the question we have to ask is: if you look at the ratio and probability of those being employed in a particular profession, are they being exposed to much higher risk of being infected or suffering from a particular disease as compared to the general public? That is the question we have to ask. If you look at heat stroke, the evidence so far we have in hand is very difficult for us to say that some of the workers in some professions or work types are more susceptible to heat stroke. The answer is no. Right now, based on the evidence available to us, we do not think there is a case for us to classify heat stroke as an occupational disease. (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Welcome and opening remarks by SLW at 7th Best Workplaces in Hong Kong 2022 Awards Ceremony (English only) (with photo/video)
27.7.2022

Following are the welcome and opening video remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, at the 7th Best Workplaces in Hong Kong 2022 Awards Ceremony of the Great Place to Work Institute this afternoon (July 27): Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to join you at the 7th Best Workplaces in Hong Kong 2022 Awards Ceremony. I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to all award-winning companies. A "workplace" is more than just a place for work. If you discount the time we sleep, for those of us who work, we spend a significant part of our active time at the workplace. Apart from work, we also socialise, learn and grow at our workplace. A great workplace not only brings in more profit to employers, but also makes employees happier and also healthier. An employer-employee relationship is not a zero-sum game. Rather, it is a collaborative and interactive process, with a feeding loop that would amplify and reward those who adopt good practices, but at the same time punish those who fail to build harmonious employer-employee relationships. Great companies are great for a variety of reasons, but almost universally there is a common theme running through them, i.e. they all adopt good and harmonious employer-employee relationships. The Government has all along been encouraging employers to adopt good human resource management and also family-friendly measures. Over the years, we have put in resources to promote and also raise awareness on this front. We are glad to observe that more and more companies are adopting family-friendly measures and good human resource management practices. Apart from promotion, it is also incumbent upon the Government to strengthen employee rights and benefits in the legal area. The economic success of our economy owes much to the contribution and hard work of millions of employees. As our economy grows, employees should benefit from the wealth-creation process in the form of improved rights and benefits. Some of the notable improvements the Government has introduced in recent years include: increasing paternity leave from three to five days; increasing maternity leave from 10 weeks to 14 weeks, with the additional four weeks being reimbursable by the Government subject to a maximum monthly payment of not more than $80,000; as well as increasing progressively the statutory holidays from 12 to 17 by the end of this decade. In closing, I would like to congratulate the award-winning companies of this ceremony once again. I am sure they would keep up their excellent work on creating a great workplace for the employees. I look forward to more and more companies joining their ranks and reaping the reward of creating great workplaces that are not just profitable to employers, but also enjoyable to employees. Thank you.
SLW visits vaccination day at RCHE (with photos)
5.7.2022

The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, inspected a COVID-19 vaccination day at a residential care home for the elderly (RCHE) in Ho Man Tin this afternoon (July 5) to take a closer look at the latest progress of outreach vaccination for residential care homes (RCHs). Accompanied by the Executive Director of the Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council, Ms Fung Sau-man, Mr Sun first encouraged residents and reminded the RCHE to take heed of the epidemic's developments and continue to implement proper anti-epidemic measures for its staff and residents. He then proceeded to observe the vaccination service provided by a Visiting Medical Officer. Including some 20 residents receiving vaccination today, nearly 95 per cent and over 85 per cent of the residents at the RCHE have received one dose and two doses of COVID-19 vaccine respectively. The first-dose vaccination rate at RCHEs and RCHs for persons with disabilities across the territory had exceeded 90 per cent by mid-June. Mr Sun said, "The second-dose vaccination rate has reached 83 per cent to date. The Social Welfare Department and the Department of Health are liaising and working closely with relevant medical teams with a view to raising the vaccination rate of the second dose as soon as practicable. Despite recent cases reported in RCHs, a high vaccination rate is key to reducing infections, severe cases and deaths. I therefore appeal to residents for timely COVID-19 vaccination for the protection of themselves and others." Mr Sun added that the new-term Government would stocktake the experience gained from the fifth wave of the epidemic and continue to review the implementation progress of improvement measures taken forward by the Inter-departmental Task Force to Enhance RCHs' Capabilities in Epidemic Fight, from infection control, enhancing ventilation, setting up a one-stop e-platform and a dedicated RCH hotline to reactivating holding centres and quarantine centres, etc. The Government will further consolidate the anti-epidemic barriers and strengthen support and co-ordination in preparation for COVID-19 developments.
SLW visits families in Wan Chai and Islands Districts under Celebrations for All project (with photos/video)
20.6.2022

The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, today (June 20) visited Wan Chai District and Islands District, and distributed gift packs under the Celebrations for All project in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, extending warm regards to the disadvantaged and the underprivileged. Accompanied by the District Officer (Wan Chai), Mr Rick Chan, and the Acting District Social Welfare Officer (Eastern/Wan Chai), Mr Kenneth Tsang, Dr Law officiated at the launch ceremony of the Celebrations for All project in Wan Chai District. Addressing the ceremony, Dr Law said, "Amid the COVID-19 epidemic, the support from the Central Government, donations from Chinese enterprises and the reinforcement from temporary contract care workers from the Mainland provide solid backing for Hong Kong in the epidemic fight. Despite various crises since our return to the motherland, Hong Kong people always rise up to the challenge with resilience and determination, turning crises into opportunities, and emerged stronger." He noted that the Government is committed to caring for the underprivileged and sharing the joy with them, in the realisation of "celebrations for all". "Recent developments of the epidemic may bring anxiety to grass-roots citizens and our elderly, and we should heighten vigilance. With the mutual support in the neighbourhoods, the community care and support bring timely relief to people in need," he said. Dr Law visited a single elderly person in the district after the launch ceremony. Prior to the visit to Wan Chai District, accompanied by the District Officer (Islands), Miss Amy Yeung, he visited elderly doubletons and a grass-roots family in Tung Chung. Dr Law reminded them to make good use of the masks, rapid test kits and handrub in the gift packs for personal protection during festive celebrations. Dr Law thanked local and welfare organisations pitching in with manpower and resources. Apart from distributing anti-epidemic supplies during COVID-19, they also arranged for volunteers to visit people in need, such as elderly doubletons, persons with disabilities and ethnic minorities, and distributed gift packs, showing the importance of social capital.
Transcript of remarks by SLW after passage of Employment and Retirement Schemes Legislation (Offsetting Arrangement) (Amendment) Bill 2022
9.6.2022

Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, after the passage of the Employment and Retirement Schemes Legislation (Offsetting Arrangement) (Amendment) Bill 2022 by the Legislative Council this afternoon (June 9): Secretary for Labour and Welfare: The passage of the Bill for abolishing the "offsetting" arrangement under the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) System is a historic moment and an important milestone in improving retirement protection of employees. Six years and a half since the public consultation on retirement protection in 2015, the legislative amendments have now been completed. I would like to thank various sectors in the community for their views and suggestions on the abolition proposal, many of which have been incorporated in the final version. I would also like to thank government colleagues for their efforts in taking forward this initiative, as well as the support of the Legislative Council and the Bills Committee Chairman's leadership in concluding the scrutiny of the Bill. Looking ahead, a number of tasks remain to be done before the abolition takes effect, including planning to introduce a bill for the Designated Savings Accounts (DSA) Scheme in the next legislative session, setting up an information technology system for its operation, preparing to provide government subsidy to employers for 25 years, and conducting wide and in-depth promotion to assist employers to understand the abolition arrangements. Reporter: Dr Law, some lawmakers would like to have the implementation date of the "offsetting" mechanism to be brought forward, like not until 2025 as you said. How would you address some of the concerns raised by the business sector that it is a very bad timing to have the Bill passed today? Secretary for Labour and Welfare: As for the first question, the alternative of not making full use of the eMPF Platform will imply that the Government has to set up a separate platform to all those things that we need to provide the support, including DSA and how to assist the employers to deal with all these calculations of "offsettable" and "non-offsettable" severance payments or long-service payments. To do that, it will almost again take two to three years' time before we can set up such a platform that could serve hundreds of thousands of employers and millions of employees. So, to make full use of the eMPF Platform is a more efficient and, I would say, a more effective way. Particularly, it would reduce the complications that employers in the future may have to face two separate platforms. So, with one single platform and one entry, they would do all those things related to MPF and "offsetting" arrangement. (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Transcript of remarks by SLW on 2022 Employment Support Scheme
30.4.2022

Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, on the 2022 Employment Support Scheme after attending a radio programme this morning (April 30): Reporter: Dr Law, what do you think about the response to the 2022 Employment Support Scheme? To what extent do you think it can improve the job market? Secretary for Labour and Welfare: The response yesterday (April 29), the first day of application, was quite earnest. I would say that people are eager to apply for it, with close to 50 000 applications from employers just within one day. For the effect of the Employment Support Scheme, when we started to announce the intention of setting up the Employment Support Scheme, we have already seen some actions in the market, where people started to rethink about the continuity of their business and the planning of resuming their business after the relaxation of the social distancing measures. So, I would say the impact has already been seen in the past couple of weeks. We hope that, with this Employment Support Scheme, people will be able to scale up their operations and create more employment for our labour force. (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
SLW distributes anti-epidemic service bags to singleton elderly and grassroots households in Kwun Tong District (with photos/video)
4.4.2022

The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, and the Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Ms Alice Lau, led their team to distribute anti-epidemic service bags to over 300 households in an old building in Kwun Tong District this afternoon (April 4). Dr Law urged residents to do self-testing every day on April 8, 9 and 10 using the rapid antigen test (RAT) kits in the bags for the goal of "early identification" in the epidemic fight. Accompanied by the District Officer (Kwun Tong), Mr Steve Tse, and the District Social Welfare Officer (Kwun Tong), Miss Rebecca Koo, Dr Law first visited an elderly singleton and delivered a service bag to her. The old lady is a frail case under Integrated Home Care Services, and is receiving escort service and rehabilitation exercises provided by a service team operated by Hong Kong Christian Service. Integrated Home Care Services provide frail elderly with basic care and support, maintaining their optimal level of functioning. Dr Law encouraged her to make use of the supplies in the service bag and briefly explained the use of RAT kits. He reminded her to pay attention to TV Announcements in the Public Interest and seek help from the service team when needed. "In the fifth wave of COVID-19, apart from enhancing support to residential care homes to fight the virus, it is equally important to maintain community care services to look after and support elderly persons to age in place. I am grateful to fellows in the sector for maintaining essential services including community care, residential care, family and Short-term Food Assistance as far as possible under strict infection control, providing the necessary support to the disadvantaged amid the epidemic," Dr Law said.
SLW expresses condolences over passing of Mr Willy Law Wai-cheung
17.3.2022

The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, was saddened today (March 17) to learn of the passing of the Vice-chairman of the Executive Committee of the Direction Association for the Handicapped, Mr Willy Law Wai-cheung. Dr Law said, "Willy had been contributing sound proposals on the well-being, employment and medical support of persons with disabilities proactively when he was the Chairman of the Association and a member of the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee. They all facilitate our formulation of the Persons with Disabilities and Rehabilitation Programme Plan and the overall policy in building an inclusive society, highlighting the implementation of policy initiatives to cater for their needs. Breaking through limitations with strenuous efforts, Willy had been a long-time advocate for self-help in empowering persons with disabilities with respect for the equality of their rights, earning high regard from his sector. On behalf of the Bureau, the Social Welfare Department and the Labour Department, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family, friends and members of the Association."