The Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2022 was gazetted and came into effect on June 17 this year, stipulating that employees who are absent from work due to compliance with quarantine orders, quarantine orders or containment and testing requirements resulting in restricted activities will be regarded as sick leave; Employees employed on a continuous contract should be entitled to sickness allowance.
An organization held a press conference today (28th), and it is estimated that after the amendments, 7,200 cleaning workers will still be absent from work due to diagnosis or quarantine, but they have not received sickness allowances, and the amount involved is about 14 million yuan.
The organization proposed that the government should strengthen supervision. For example, the FEHD should take the initiative to investigate and punish outsourcers who deduct wages and leave for employees who are diagnosed or quarantined; the Labour Department should also set up a sickness allowance enquiry center and hotline to deal with such labor disputes. .
In addition, the organization recommends that the government add a retrospective period for the relevant amendments, so that more workers who have been diagnosed or quarantined before the amendments can receive sickness allowances, or consider setting up a one-off special allowance through the Anti-epidemic Fund to allow these workers Workers receive sickness benefits.
▼July 28 Caritas Youth and Community Services Press Conference▼
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Caritas Youth and Community Services conducted a questionnaire survey from June to July this year to learn about the sick leave of outsourced cleaners and the payment of sickness allowances during the quarantine period. Among the 221 questionnaires, 126 had been diagnosed, 5 had been quarantined, and 6 had been quarantined. People have been unable to go to work because of the siege and forcible inspection.
Of the 126 people diagnosed with the disease, nearly 55% did not receive sickness benefits.
While not receiving sickness allowances, nearly 70% of the respondents were arranged to use annual or menstrual leave to offset their isolation or quarantine days.
The survey results also showed that more than 95% of the workers surveyed expected to receive sickness allowance, and more than 70% of the respondents believed that the revised employment regulations should be retrospective, so that more people who had been diagnosed or quarantined during the fifth wave of the epidemic should have a retrospective period. of workers are paid back sickness allowance.
Caritas Youth and Community Services estimates that after the amendment to the Employment Ordinance, there are still 7,200 cleaning workers who are absent from work due to confirmed diagnosis or quarantine and have not yet received sickness allowance.
(Screenshot of webcast)
The organization estimates that about half of the workers in Hong Kong have been diagnosed with the disease. Even after the authorities revised the Employment Ordinance, there are still 7,200 cleaning workers who have been diagnosed or quarantined but have not received sickness allowances, involving a total of 14 million yuan, describing the situation as "collectively owed salary".
In addition to not disbursing sickness allowances, the organization mentioned that during the investigation, it was found that some of the workers belonged to companies had different practices in handling cases. Some confirmed employees received sickness allowances, while others did not, resulting in "unequal pay for equal work". ", urging employers to unify their practices.
▼Cleaners are an important part of the fight against the epidemic▼
Urge the Government to strengthen oversight of the Labour Department's establishment of an additional enquiry centre and hotline
The organization suggested that the government should strengthen supervision. For example, the FEHD should take the initiative to investigate and punish outsourcers who deduct wages and leave for employees who are diagnosed or quarantined, or even include their compliance with the latest labor laws as a factor in bidding considerations.
The Labour Department should also set up sickness allowance enquiry centres and hotlines to deal with such labour disputes.
The Legislative Council passed the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2022 in the third reading.
(File photo/Photo by Liang Pengwei)
Advocating the addition of a retrospective period to the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2022
In addition, the organization recommends that the government add a retrospective period for the relevant amendments, so that more workers who have been diagnosed or quarantined before the amendments can receive sickness allowances, or consider setting up a one-off special allowance through the Anti-epidemic Fund to allow these workers Workers receive sickness allowance.
Employment Ordinance | No injections are fired as "reasonable" Labour Department: Unsolicited dismissal of non-injected employees Epidemic | Amendment of the Employment Ordinance Legislative Council Ming First Reading Second Reading Dismissal for sick leave without vaccination No paid sick leave, no recovery code, resignation or early injection