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Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (June 25):
Question:
According to the projections made by the Census and Statistics Department, the labour force is expected to increase from last year's 3.59 million to the peak of 3.71 million in 2018 and then decline gradually. Although the Civil Service Bureau is conducting a consultation on the extension of the service of civil servants, there are views that the authorities should formulate a comprehensive strategy to tackle the challenges arising from an ageing population and a shrinking labour force. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the occupations which are currently subject to a statutory retirement age and the requirements concerned; whether it has compiled statistics on such occupations in relation to the average retirement age in the past three years, the number of serving employees, as well as the number and percentage of those employees expected to be retiring within the coming three years;
(2) given that senior people of the present age generally have better health conditions than those in the past, and that technological advancements have rendered many occupations less physically demanding than in the past, whether the authorities have plans to conduct a review and industry consultations on whether the statutory retirement ages of various occupations still suit the present circumstances, so as to explore whether there is room for upward adjustment of the retirement ages; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) whether it has studied and formulated measures to tackle the prevailing challenges arising from an ageing population and a shrinking labour force, so as to maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the Hon Tam Yiu-chung's question is as follows:
(1) and (2) Apart from the retirement age of civil servants, there are other ordinances which also regulate the retirement age of their relevant practitioners, including the Security and Guarding Services Ordinance (Cap. 460), the Pilotage Ordinance (Cap. 84) as well as the Education Ordinance (Cap. 279).
Under the Security and Guarding Services Ordinance, there are four categories (A, B, C and D) of Security Personnel Permits (SPP). Category B SPP covers a wide range of security services. Its holders may perform guarding work in respect of any persons, premises or properties. Category C SPP is required for performing guarding work which requires the carrying of arms and ammunition. Taking into consideration the requirements of these two types of guarding work in respect of the physical ability and alertness of the practitioners, as well as their social importance, the upper age limits for Categories B and C SPP are set at 65 and 55 years old respectively. The statistics of the holders of these two categories of SPP are at Annex 1.
Those who have exceeded the upper age limits of Categories B and C SPP may apply for Category A SPP. Category A SPP does not have any upper age limit. Holders of Category A SPP may perform guarding work for "single private residential buildings".
To ensure navigational safety of non-local vessels within the waters of Hong Kong, the Pilotage Ordinance stipulates that all vessels of 3 000 gross tonnage or over and some other specified vessels, while navigating in the waters of Hong Kong, shall be under the pilotage of licensed pilot. An age restriction is imposed on the relevant work considering that a pilot must possess normal vision and is mentally and physically fit. In May 2013, the Ordinance was amended to allow Class I pilots beyond the age of 65 to continue to work in accordance with their licences until the age of 68. The statistics of serving and retired pilots are set out at Annex 2.
Under the Education Ordinance, a teacher or principal of an aided school shall normally not continue to be employed if he / she has attained the age of 60 years or more before the commencement of the school year. However, the Permanent Secretary for Education may issue to the School Management Committee or Incorporated Management Committee of the aided school concerned permission to continue to employ the teacher or principal aged 60 or above for a period of not more than one school year. The maximum aggregate period for which permission may be issued shall be five consecutive school years. Please refer to Annex 3 for statistics on teachers of public sector secondary and primary Schools. The Education Ordinance has already provided flexibility for School Management Committee or Incorporated Management Committee of aided schools to apply for extension of services for teachers and principals.
(3) The Steering Committee on Population Policy (SCPP), chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration, conducted a public engagement exercise on population policy from October last year to February this year. In discussing ways to unleash the potential of existing population, the consultation document recommends extending working life and helping mature workers stay in the labour force longer. During the public engagement exercise, SCPP received many views that supported extending the retirement age of the working population as one of the major strategies to tackle the challenge of a dwindling labour force. In this connection, the Civil Service Bureau briefed SCPP on the consultation on the extension of the service of civil servants at the latest meeting on Monday (June 23). SCPP agreed to the proposal to adopt a higher retirement age for new recruits to the civil service from a future date, and considered that such a move could serve as a model for other public sector and subvented organisations as well as private enterprises to follow. SCPP will follow up on the retirement age limit set in specific occupations (including those mentioned in the paragraphs above) which were imposed having regard to their specific contexts and rationales. The Secretariat of SCPP will invite the concerned bureau to brief on and explain the relevant contexts and rationales with a view to facilitating SCPP in considering and making recommendation on whether follow-up action would be necessary.
Having considered the views received, SCPP has identified several policy areas, in addition to the issue of retirement age, which require follow-up actions to tackle the challenges of an ageing population and a shrinking workforce. A list of the policy areas is at Annex 4. The relevant bureaux and departments will start their internal studies on the above measures and will submit concrete proposals to the Steering Committee in due course.
Ends/Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Issued at HKT 14:55
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