The Home Affairs Department will open 19 temporary night heat shelters tonight (June 27) for people in need of the service.
 
     The shelters will be open from 10.30pm until 8am tomorrow.
 
     For further information, please call the department's hotline before midnight on 2835 1473.
 
     The 19 night heat shelters are located at:
 
Hong Kong Districts:
———————
 
Central and Western –
Sai Ying Pun Community Complex Community Hall
3/F, Sai Ying Pun Community Complex
2 High Street, Sai Ying Pun
 
Eastern –
Causeway Bay Community Centre
3/F, 7 Fook Yum Road, Causeway Bay
 
Southern –
Lei Tung Community Hall
Lei Tung Estate, Ap Lei Chau
 
Wan Chai –
Wan Chai Activities Centre
LG/F, Wan Chai Market, 258 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai
 
Kowloon Districts:
——————
 
Kowloon City –
Hung Hom Community Hall
1/F, Kowloon City Government Offices
42 Bailey Street, Hung Hom
 
Kwun Tong –
Lam Tin (West) Estate Community Centre
71 Kai Tin Road, Lam Tin

Sham Shui Po –
Shek Kip Mei Community Hall
G/F, Block 42, Shek Kip Mei Estate
Sham Shui Po
 
Wong Tai Sin –
Tsz Wan Shan (South) Estate Community Centre
45 Wan Wah Street, Tsz Wan Shan
 
Yau Tsim Mong –
Henry G. Leong Yaumatei Community Centre
60 Public Square Street, Yau Ma Tei
 
New Territories Districts:
————————–
 
Islands –
Tung Chung Community Hall
G/F, Tung Chung Municipal Services Building,
39 Man Tung Road, Tung Chung
 
Kwai Tsing –
Kwai Shing Community Hall
Podium, Block 6, Kwai Shing West Estate, Kwai Chung
 
North –
Cheung Wah Community Hall
Cheung Wah Estate, Fanling
 
Sai Kung –
Hang Hau Community Hall
G/F, Sai Kung Tseung Kwan O Government Complex,
38 Pui Shing Road, Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O
 
Sha Tin –
Lung Hang Estate Community Centre
Lung Hang Estate, Sha Tin
 
Tai Po –
Tai Po Community Centre
2 Heung Sze Wui Street, Tai Po
 
Tsuen Wan –
Lei Muk Shue Community Hall
G/F, Hong Shue House, Lei Muk Shue Estate, Tsuen Wan
 
Tuen Mun –
Butterfly Bay Community Centre
Butterfly Estate (near Tip Sum House), Tuen Mun
 
Yuen Long –
Long Ping Community Hall
Long Ping Estate, Yuen Long
 
Yuen Long –
Tin Yiu Community Centre
Tin Yiu Estate, Tin Shui Wai

     The temporary night heat shelters will resume their functions as either community centres or community halls in the daytime for hire by the local community and cannot continue to be open as heat shelters. People may choose to take refuge from the heat during the daytime in the common areas in any of the 20 designated community centres or community halls. Their opening hours are from 9am to 10pm. For addresses of the community centres or community halls, please browse the following webpage: www.had.gov.hk/file_manager/en/documents/public_services/emergency_services/List_CH_CC_Day_E.pdf.

     â€‹A spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (June 27) said that a food premises in Eastern District, which was found to be in breach of the Food Business Regulation (FBR) during the department's special operation targeting the hygienic condition of food premises, was prosecuted and subsequently convicted by the court. With the demerit points accumulated under the Demerit Points System (DPS), the licence of the premises will be suspended for seven days.

     The spokesman said that since improper handling of food waste by food premises can give rise to rodent problems, the FEHD ran a five-week special operation from early December last year to January this year to target irregularities of food premises such as food preparation, scullery hygiene, improper storage of articles and illegal dumping of refuse at rear lanes (including dumping of bagged refuse in small hours), with a view to enhancing awareness of rodent prevention and control among the operators of food premises, and taking stringent enforcement action.

     A conviction for the above-mentioned breaches was recorded against the food premises concerned earlier this year. As a cumulative total of 15 demerit points was registered against the licensee under the DPS, the contraventions resulted in seven days' business suspension.

     The spokesman reminded licensees of food premises to comply with the FBR, and to keep their premises and the nearby environment clean and hygienic in order to prevent rodent infestation, or they may be subject to prosecution resulting in licence suspension or cancellation.

     To enhance the effectiveness of related operations, the FEHD undertook another round of targeted operations from May 20 to June 23, and on June 24 launched a new round special enforcement operation lasting nine weeks to sustain its efforts in curbing such illegal activities and improving environmental hygiene to help combat the rodent problem.

     For the five-week operation carried out between May and June, the FEHD issued 2 207 advisory letters, 423 verbal warnings, four warning letters, 142 fixed penalty notices and took out 119 prosecutions. As regards the food premises with demerit points registered for relevant offences, the FEHD will continue to follow up with the suspension or cancellation of licences according to the established mechanism.

     â€‹A man was sentenced to 120 hours' community service by the Eastern Magistrates' Court today (June 27) each for assaulting a Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) officer and for obstructing a public officer in execution of his duty. The sentences are to run concurrently.
      
     In addition, the man was also fined $1,500 for depositing litter in a public place.
      
     The court heard that the incident took place on January 10 this year when a man refused to co-operate and assaulted an FEHD officer when the officer tried to issue a fixed penalty notice to him for depositing litter in a public place at Jaffe Road, Wan Chai.
      
     "To use force against law enforcement officers is inappropriate and also carries legal consequences. Members of the public should co-operate with public officers in execution of their duties," an FEHD spokesman said.

     The Immigration Department (ImmD) mounted a territory-wide anti-illegal worker operation codenamed "Twilight" on June 24 and 26. A total of 10 illegal workers and five suspected employers were arrested.

     During the operation, ImmD Task Force officers raided 29 target locations including commercial buildings, a garbage collection depot, a hostel, an industrial building, a massage parlour, offices, a recycling site and restaurants. Ten illegal workers and five employers were arrested. The illegal workers comprised three men and seven women, aged 27 to 54. Among them, three men and two women were suspected of using and being in possession of forged Hong Kong identity cards. Meanwhile, three men and two women, aged 24 to 55, were suspected of employing the illegal workers.

     "Any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him shall be guilty of an offence. Also, visitors are not allowed to take employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the permission of the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years' imprisonment. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties," an ImmD spokesman said.

     The spokesman warned that, as stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, illegal immigrants or people who are the subject of a removal order or a deportation order are prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years' imprisonment. The Court of Appeal has issued a guideline ruling that a sentence of 15 months' imprisonment should be applied in such cases. It is an offence to use or possess a forged Hong Kong identity card or a Hong Kong identity card related to another person. Offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and up to 10 years' imprisonment.

     The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for three years and a fine of $350,000. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence. According to the court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee's identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker's valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. The maximum penalty for failing to inspect such a document is imprisonment for one year and a fine of $150,000.

     Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct initial screening of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threat and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent interference, medical services, counselling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments.

Overall wage and payroll statistics

     According to the figures released today (June 27) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the average wage rate for all the selected industry sections surveyed, as measured by the wage index, increased by 3.9% in nominal terms in March 2019 over a year earlier.  

     About 68% of the companies reported increase in average wage rates in March 2019 compared with a year ago. 29% of the companies recorded decrease in average wage rates over the same period. The remaining 3% reported virtually no change in average wage rates.

     After discounting the changes in consumer prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index (A), the overall average wage rate for all the selected industry sections surveyed increased by 1.4% in real terms in March 2019 over a year earlier.

     As for payroll, the index of payroll per person engaged for all the industry sections surveyed increased by 4.0% in nominal terms in the first quarter of 2019 over a year earlier.  

     After discounting the changes in consumer prices as measured by the Composite Consumer Price Index, the average payroll per person engaged increased by 1.8% in real terms in the first quarter of 2019 compared with a year earlier.

     The wage rate includes basic wages and other regular and guaranteed allowances and bonuses. Payroll includes elements covered by wage rate as well as other irregular payments to workers such as discretionary bonuses and overtime allowances. The payroll statistics therefore tend to show relatively larger quarter-to-quarter changes, affected by the number of hours actually worked and the timing of payment of bonuses and back-pay.

Sectoral changes

     For the nominal wage indices, year-on-year increases were recorded in all selected industry sections in March 2019, ranging from 2.8% to 4.9%.

     For the real wage indices, year-on-year increases were also recorded in all selected industry sections in March 2019, ranging from 0.4% to 2.4%.

     The year-on-year changes in the nominal and real wage indices for the selected industry sections from March 2018 to March 2019 are shown in Table 1.

     As for the nominal indices of payroll per person engaged, year-on-year increases were recorded in all selected industry sections in the first quarter of 2019, ranging from 2.4% to 5.2%.

     For the real payroll indices, year-on-year increases were also recorded in all selected industry sections in the first quarter of 2019, ranging from 0.1% to 3.0%.

     The year-on-year changes in the nominal and real indices of payroll per person engaged for selected industry sections from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019 are shown in Table 2. The quarterly changes in the seasonally adjusted nominal and real indices of payroll per person engaged between the first quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 are shown in Table 3.

Commentary 

     A Government spokesman noted that nominal wages sustained solid year-on-year growth across most industries in March 2019, thanks to tight labour market conditions. After discounting for inflation, real wages continued to see improvement, including those of lower-paid workers.  

     Payroll per person engaged, which covers discretionary bonuses and other irregular payments, also continued to record solid year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2019. Payroll increases in most industries remained solid, though import/export and wholesale trades, and retail trade saw relatively moderate payroll growth amid subdued performances of the respective sectors.  

     The spokesman added that the stable labour market and the uprating of Statutory Minimum Wage since May 2019 will likely render support to wage growth in the near term, especially so for the grassroots workers. Yet, the Government will monitor the situation closely, in view of the various external headwinds facing the local economy.

Other information

     Both wage indices and payroll indices are compiled quarterly based on the results of the Labour Earnings Survey (LES) conducted by the C&SD.  

     Wage statistics are conceptually different from the payroll statistics. Firstly, wage rate for an employee refers to the sum earned for his normal hours of work. It covers basic wages and other regular and guaranteed allowances and bonuses, but excludes earnings from overtime work and discretionary bonuses, which are however included in payroll per person engaged. Secondly, the payroll index of an industry is an indicator of the simple average payroll received per person engaged in the industry. Its movement is therefore affected by changes in wage rates, number of hours of work and occupational composition in the industry. In contrast, the wage index of an industry is devised to reflect the pure changes in wage rate, with the occupational composition between two successive statistical periods being kept unchanged. In other words, the wage index reflects the change in the price of labour. Thirdly, wage index only covers employees up to the supervisory level (i.e. not including managerial and professional employees), whereas payroll index covers employees at all levels and proprietors actively engaged in the work of the establishment. Because of these conceptual and enumeration differences between payroll and wage statistics, the movements in payroll indices and in wage indices do not necessarily match closely with each other.

     It should also be noted that different consumer price indices are used for compiling the real indices of wage and payroll to take into account the differences in their respective occupation coverage. Specifically, the Composite Consumer Price Index, being an indicator of overall consumer prices, is taken as the price deflator for payroll of workers at all levels of the occupational hierarchy. The Consumer Price Index (A), being an indicator of consumer prices for the relatively low expenditure group, is taken as the price deflator for wages in respect of employees engaged in occupations up to the supervisory level.

     Detailed breakdowns of the payroll and wage statistics are published in the "Quarterly Report of Wage and Payroll Statistics, March 2019". Users can download this publication free of charge from the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp210.jsp?productCode=B1050009).

     For enquiries on wage and payroll statistics, please contact the Wages and Labour Costs Statistics Section (1) of the C&SD (Tel: 2887 5550 or email: wage@censtatd.gov.hk).