Survey Reveals Over 40% of Workers Responded to Temporary Support Plans Refused

The Government launched the Temporary Unemployment Support Scheme earlier, disbursing $10,000 to eligible workers.

However, after the application period ended, many workers received notices of rejection of their applications.

The Trade Union's Rights Committee conducted a survey in May and found that more than 40% of the interviewed workers' applications were not approved, and more than 50% of their employment status has not returned to normal due to the fifth wave of the epidemic.

The trade union pointed out that it has received nearly 450 requests for help recently, and some of the applications were rejected for unreasonable reasons, urging the authorities to add an appeal mechanism.

The Trade Union's Rights Committee conducted a survey in May and found that more than 40% of the interviewed workers' applications were not approved, and more than 50% of their employment status has not returned to normal due to the fifth wave of the epidemic.

(Photo by Zeng Fengting)

A survey on the enhancement of the "Temporary Unemployment Support" Scheme was conducted by the Trade Union's Rights Committee through an online questionnaire from May 7 to 16, and 328 responses were collected.

Among them, more than 40% of the respondents said that their applications were not approved. The reasons for unsuccessful applications included not being unemployed but not working enough (29%), insufficient supporting documents for application (23%), and cumbersome application procedures (23%). ) and unemployed for less than 30 days (15%).

More than 50% of unsuccessful applicants have called the scheme's hotline to check the situation, but 21% of them said the hotline was not answered, and 21% said they were successfully connected, but the staff could not answer their questions.

The employment situation of more than 60% of the respondents has not improved

The results of the questionnaire also showed that the employment situation of 63% of the people has not improved. Among them, 32% said that they have been unemployed for a long time and their income has returned to zero. 16% said that they were fired during the fifth wave of the epidemic and now rely on part-time workers to make a living, and 15% said that Not enough work.

Many respondents hope that the government will optimize and launch a new phase of the temporary unemployment support scheme, such as supporting those underemployed and extending the subsidy period.

Qiu Yaocheng, director of the Federation of Trade Unions Rights Committee, pointed out that the Federation of Trade Unions has received nearly 450 requests for help recently, and some of the applications were rejected for unreasonable reasons.

In one of the cases, the client was employed at a listed premises and was notified by the employer on February 23 that he needed to suspend work. The client applied for unemployment assistance after 30 days of suspension, but was ultimately rejected.

Afterwards, the victim tried to call the hotline to understand the situation, and the operator replied that the application was rejected because his company certified that the stoppage date was February 25, which was not enough for continuous unemployment or stoppage for 30 days.

Yau pointed out that there was only two days before and after the suspension of work in this case, and believed that the authorities should relax the handling.

Zhao Guancong, rights officer of the Food and Beverage Federation of Trade Unions, said that the union has received 40 requests for help, and 14 of them are from the same hotel.

Zhao pointed out that the catering industry has been severely hit by the epidemic, and many workers who have stopped work are anxious to apply for temporary unemployment assistance, describing the subsidy as their "life-saving money".

However, many workers did not apply for the relevant programs after the 30-day suspension of work because they were not clear about the application process. They were rejected, and their urgent needs were not resolved. There were even cases where workers who had equal pay for equal work in the same company failed or succeeded in their applications.

The entire program is mainly applied through online channels, and the procedures are complicated and cumbersome. Some applicants who are not familiar with computer operations are tolerant of mistakes or omissions.

However, there is no appeal mechanism at present, and some cases do not clearly reflect the reasons for the failure of the application. He described the situation as "the cause of death is unknown".

It is recommended to extend the deadline for submitting supplementary information to two weeks

Xu Huifeng, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Beauty and Fitness Professionals, said that some of the workers who were rejected did not even know the reason for their failure. Even if they called the hotline, no one answered, questioning the lack of transparency of plan approval and follow-up.

She also mentioned that the beauty salon has been closed for four months, but other industries in the industry are different in that they have basic salary and commission, which is an industry with more work and more income, plus the three-month income application period is the peak season of the beauty industry. She hopes the qualifications for a monthly salary of up to 30,000 yuan before unemployment can be conditionally relaxed.

Qiu Yaocheng suggested that the government should re-examine unsuccessful applications and extend the period for submitting supplementary information from 5 days to two weeks, so that applicants who fill in the wrong or omitted information can fill in enough information within a reasonable time limit. An efficient and transparent appeal mechanism should also be added to give applicants the opportunity to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

In addition, Yau proposed to optimize and launch a new phase of the temporary unemployment support scheme, including relaxing the monthly salary cap before unemployment, shortening the requirement to be unemployed for not less than 30 days, covering those who are underemployed, and extending the subsidy period to a maximum of six months Wait, let workers in need apply successfully.

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