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The Minimum Wage (Criteria for Approved Assessors) Notice and the Minimum Wage (Assessment Methods) Notice were approved at the Legislative Council sitting on March 2. These Notices will come into operation in tandem with the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) on May 1, 2011. The Labour Department is recruiting approved assessors in accordance with the criteria for approved assessors as stipulated in the Minimum Wage (Criteria for Approved Assessors) Notice.
As enshrined in the Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO), employees with disabilities, like their able-bodied counterparts, enjoy the same SMW protection. Nevertheless, taking account of the possible employment difficulties encountered by some persons with disabilities, the MWO also provides them with a special arrangement. Specifically, persons with disabilities will have the right to choose to have their productivity assessed to determine whether they should be remunerated at not lower than the SMW level or at a rate commensurate with their productivity. To forestall abuse by some employers, the right to invoke the productivity assessment is vested in persons with disabilities rather than their employers.
The Minimum Wage (Criteria for Approved Assessors) Notice specifies that approved assessors should be registered occupational therapists, registered physiotherapists, registered social workers or vocational rehabilitation practitioners with the requisite years of experience in the provision of vocational rehabilitation or other services in relation to the employment of persons with disabilities. The Minimum Wage (Assessment Methods) Notice specifies the broad principles and major elements of the methods for productivity assessments.
To tie in with the implementation of SMW on May 1, 2011, the Labour Department is now recruiting approved assessors to conduct the productivity assessments. Eligible persons are welcome to submit applications on or before March 31. For details, including criteria for approved assessors, application forms and notes for applicants, please refer to the Labour Department's homepage (www.labour.gov.hk).
All eligible applicant assessors should complete satisfactorily training arranged by the Labour Department in order to become approved assessors. Approved assessors will be qualified for conducting productivity assessments for persons with disabilities upon the implementation of SMW on May 1, 2011. Information on approved assessors will be included in a register of approved assessors. An employee with disabilities who wishes to undertake the assessment may select any of the approved assessors from the register to conduct the assessment. An assessor will be given an allowance of $2,000 per case of productivity assessment and relevant administrative work completed as required.
Ends/Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Issued at HKT 22:52
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