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Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Kwok-che and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (May 9):
Question:
Taking account of the possible employment difficulties encountered by some persons with disabilities (PWDs), the Minimum Wage Ordinance (Cap. 608) provides for a special arrangement so that PWDs whose productivity may be impaired by their disabilities will have the right to choose to undergo the productivity assessment (the assessment) to determine whether they should be remunerated at a level not lower than the statutory minimum wage or a rate commensurate with their productivity. As of the end of January 2012, a total of 184 PWDs had undergone the assessment. Some members of the social welfare sector have reflected that the assessment mechanism has made employment even more difficult for PWDs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have reviewed if PWDs have been unreasonably deprived of the right to negotiation given that at present PWDs can only opt for the assessment instead of the past approach through which social workers would negotiate with the employers on behalf of PWDs to determine their remunerations; if they have, of the outcome; whether the authorities will offer PWDs the option of either assessment or negotiation in the future; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) among the 184 PWDs who had undergone the assessment, of the number of those who did not agree to the assessment results; whether the authorities will consider immediately and regularly in future collecting the views of the service users on the assessment mechanism and the approved assessors (assessors) for a review of the assessment mechanism in the future; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) why there is no appeal mechanism at present for PWDs to object to the assessment results; whether the authorities will immediately set up an appeal mechanism; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will make public the details of the assessment criteria; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(d) of the respective numbers of PWDs who are taking up different kinds of jobs at present, with a breakdown by job type; and the respective numbers of PWDs who have not applied for undergoing the assessment yet but are still working in various posts; and
(e) whether the authorities will immediately include information such as the assessors' professional qualifications and years of experience in various types of disability services, etc in the assessors' background information provided by the Labour Department, so that PWDs can have adequate information to select the appropriate assessors; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to each part of the question raised by the Hon Cheung Kwok-che is set out below:
(a) Under the Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO), persons with disabilities are entitled to choose to be paid at not lower than the statutory minimum wage (SMW); or to undergo productivity assessment (assessment) and be remunerated at a rate commensurate with their productivity. The provision of this special arrangement for persons with disabilities seeks to address public concern over the possible employment difficulties of some persons with disabilities upon the implementation of SMW, with a view to striking a reasonable balance between providing wage protection to persons with disabilities and safeguarding their employment opportunities. The Legislative Council had discussed the subject in detail when scrutinising the Minimum Wage Bill.
(b) & (c) The special arrangement for persons with disabilities provided under the MWO was formulated after consultations with stakeholders, including persons with disabilities, parent groups, rehabilitation organisations, employers of persons with disabilities, etc. According to the majority view gauged during consultations with stakeholders, the assessment procedures should not be complicated. Otherwise, it would create undue pressure on persons with disabilities, which would in turn affect their performance during the assessment and dampen employers' willingness to employ persons with disabilities. Putting in place an appeal mechanism will make the assessment procedures complicated. In considering the Minimum Wage Bill, the Legislative Council had discussed whether an appeal mechanism should be provided. Hong Kong has no experience in implementing an SMW, particularly the assessment mechanism for persons with disabilities. The Administration has undertaken to review the special arrangement for persons with disabilities within two years after the implementation of SMW.
We do not have information about the number of persons with disabilities who did not agree to the assessment result. The Labour Department (LD) is collecting feedback from employees with disabilities who have completed the assessment and their employers regarding the assessment mechanism and approved assessors.
As for the assessment criteria, the Minimum Wage (Assessment Methods) Notice stipulates that the degree of productivity of a person with disabilities in performing the work is to be assessed by reference to his performance of the work at his place of employment. The approved assessor must, having regard to the details of the work and all the circumstances of the case, decide the relevant factors in the assessment, including: (a) the quality of work done by the person with disabilities; (b) the quantity of work done by the person with disabilities; (c) the speed of work of the person with disabilities; and/or (d) the ability of the person with disabilities to meet the other requirements of the work.
(d) We do not have statistics on the respective numbers and breakdown by job type of persons with disabilities who are taking up different kinds of jobs at present and persons with disabilities who have not undergone the assessment yet but are still working in various posts.
(e) To facilitate employees with disabilities to select the approved assessor for assessment, the LD provides a register of approved assessors. The register sets out the relevant information of each approved assessor, which includes, among others, the category of profession and (if provided by the assessor) professional qualifications, expertise in disability type(s) and relevant working experience. The LD will continue to enrich the details contained in the register of approved assessors and include, if feasible, their years of experience in undertaking various types of disability services.
Ends/Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:41
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