Unemployment rose for a while under the fifth wave of the epidemic, and the government earlier launched a temporary unemployment support scheme of 10,000 yuan.
The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Sun Yuk-han, said in a written reply to a member's question today (6th) that the scheme has received about 470,000 applications. That is, about 27.2% of applications are unsuccessful.
Among the rejected applications, the bureau listed six reasons for rejection. Among them, there were about 52,000 applications, and their information could not prove that they met the application qualifications, including the inability to prove that they worked in a designated place, and did not provide a certificate of resignation or suspension.
▼The final application for the $10,000 Unemployment Support Program on April 12▼
The Government launched the Temporary Unemployment Support Scheme in March this year. Successful applicants will receive a subsidy of $10,000.
Sun Yuhan replied in writing to the Member's question, explaining the latest data on the plan.
He said a total of about 470,000 applications were received, of which 130,000 reported "employment in designated premises subject to Chapter 599F" and about 330,000 reported "unemployed for at least 30 consecutive days".
As of June 24, the plan has approved about 342,000 applications, some of which have been approved by the government at its discretion, such as only one or two days short of meeting the 30-day unemployment requirement, and having engaged in a small number of casual workers during the unemployment period.
However, the government has not kept statistics on the relevant cases.
As for the 128,000 applications that were not approved, the government outlined six major reasons for rejection, of which the largest number was that the application materials failed to prove the eligibility for application. There were a total of 51,940 applications, including failure to provide proof of resignation or suspension; Evidence that the workplace is restricted to a designated place; no employer contact information is provided; the supplementary information is inconsistent with the information in the application form or MPF records.
Reason for Denial of Application (Government Document)
The second biggest reason was that the monthly income from October to December 2021 did not meet the $2,700 to $30,000 requirement, involving 36,170 people.
The third major reason was that although the applicants reported being required to suspend work for a short period of time, their workplaces were not restricted to designated premises under Chapter 599F, with 21,140 related cases.
Sun Yuhan said that he understands that many applicants still try to apply although they are not eligible to apply. He emphasized that the number of applications finally approved is similar to the total number of unemployment and underemployment from February to April 2022.
He also pointed out that among the 470,000 applications, about 210,000 applicants used documents other than MPF accounts as proof of income.
He believes that MPF account data is a reliable third-party information, which can help quickly verify the eligibility of applicants and reduce the chance of abuse. The current acceptance of income proofs other than MPF accounts is a special arrangement, which corresponds to the uniqueness of the scheme.
The unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 5.1%, the first decline after rising for 3 consecutive months. Successful 100,000 people have 2 ways to appeal. The unemployment rate in Hong Kong has soared to 5.4%, a ten-month high. The number of unemployed has exceeded 200,000 again.