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Employment Support Scheme receives overwhelming response on first day of application
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     A Government spokesman said today (May 25) that the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) has received an overwhelming response from employers and self-employed persons on the first day of the three-week application period today.
 
     "Up to 6pm today, we have received a total of over 41 000 applications from employers and about 27 000 applications from self-employed persons," the Government spokesman said.
         
     Eligible employers and self-employed persons can submit online applications for the first tranche of wage subsidies through the ESS Online Portal at www.ess.gov.hk until 11.59pm on June 14 (Sunday). 
    
     The application page was launched successfully at 7am today and has been functioning smoothly throughout the day.
 
     "We encourage employers whose businesses have been hit by the epidemic to make the best use of the ESS wage subsidies to retain their employees who will otherwise be made redundant, and to pay wages to staff who have been put on no-pay leave," the spokesman said. 
 
     To facilitate completion of the application and subsequent vetting processes, applicants are encouraged to, before filling out the online application form, read the terms and conditions of application and get the information and documents required in hand to ensure that the information submitted fully meets the application requirements. 
 
     All the applications received will be processed expeditiously with a view to disbursing wage subsidies to most successful applicants within three to four weeks.
  
     Interested employers and self-employed persons are advised to visit the ESS Online Portal at www.ess.gov.hk to obtain detailed information on the ESS, including details of eligibility, application procedures, calculation of subsidies, terms and conditions, undertaking and more. They may also send email to enquiry@employmentsupport.hk or call the ESS Hotline (1836 122), for which the operation hours during the application period have been extended to Monday to Sunday from 9am to 6pm. 
 
     Applicants who need assistance in completing their online applications may call the above Hotline to make appointments with the three ESS Help Desks at the following locations:
 
  • North Point Help Desk at Room 1701, A T Tower, 180 Electric Road, North Point;
  • Kwun Tong Help Desk at Room 2507, Prosperity Center, 25 Chong Yip Street, Kwun Tong; and
  • Tsuen Wan Help Desk at Room 1206, Chinachem Tsuen Wan Plaza, 455 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan.
 
     A total of 16 153 enquiries have been received via the Hotline and email, and 345 persons have made visits to the three Help Desks on the first day of application.
 
Ends/Monday, May 25, 2020
Issued at HKT 20:28
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