LCQ22: Sickness allowance
*************************
Question:
Under the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) (EO), the employer of an employee employed under a continuous contract must pay sickness allowance to the employee who has met the following three conditions: (1) has taken the sick leave for not less than four consecutive days, (2) can tender an appropriate medical certificate, and (3) has accumulated sufficient number of paid sickness days. The daily rate of sickness allowance is a sum equivalent to four-fifths of the average daily wages (daily wages) earned by the employee during the 12-month period preceding the sickness day or the first sickness day. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) In respect of civil service agreement officers and non-civil service contract staff currently employed by the Government, of the respective percentages of such employees whose contracts have provided that where the employee has taken less than four consecutive days of sick leave but satisfied the other two conditions, the employee is (i) not entitled to sickness allowance, (ii) entitled to sickness allowance equivalent to a certain percentage of his/her daily wages, and (iii) entitled to sickness allowance paid at full rate; if such information is not available, of the reasons for that;
(2) Whether the Government, being the largest employer in Hong Kong, will consider taking the lead in offering conditions of service that are more favourable than those provided under the law to civil service agreement officers and non-civil service contract staff, namely to grant sickness allowance at full rate to such employees who have taken less than four consecutive days of sick leave but satisfied the other two conditions; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) Whether the Government will consider amending EO to improve employees' benefits relating to sickness allowance; if it will, of the details, including whether it will conduct public consultation on this issue in the current legislative session; if it will not consider, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government's response to the Hon Andrew Wan's question is as follows:
(1) and (2) In accordance with the Civil Service Regulations, civil servants could apply for full-pay sick leave for two consecutive working days without the production of a medical certificate. Longer periods of sick leave may only be taken with the support of medical certificates.
Heads of Departments (HoDs) have full discretion to determine the sickness days arrangements for their non-civil service contract (NCSC) staff. Overall speaking, their employment terms must be no less favourable than those provided for under the Employment Ordinance (EO), and no more favourable than those applicable to civil servants in comparable civil service ranks or ranks of comparable levels of responsibilities. Under these principles, HoDs may grant NCSC staff full pay sickness allowance for sickness days that are less than four consecutive days upon presentation of a medical certificate. We have not collected information on this front.
(3) As an employee's absence from work because of sickness or injury may not be employment-related, there is a need to maintain an appropriate balance between the interests of employers and employees in apportioning the loss of earning arising from an employee's illness. Under the EO, sickness allowance is payable to an employee who has taken sick leave for four consecutive days or more and has accumulated sufficient paid sickness days. Such stipulations have accorded a certain level of protection to employees.
The Government always encourages employers, having regard to their own business operations and affordability, to offer employment benefits above the statutory standards to their employees. At this stage, the Labour Department has no plan to make amendments to the relevant provisions.
Ends/Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:00
Issued at HKT 15:00
NNNN