Following is a question by the Hon Ho Kai-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, in the Legislative Council today (May 15):
Question :
Regarding the statistics on injuries caused to employees by accidents arising out of and in the course of employment (work injuries), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of employees who were incapacitated by work injuries for a period of (i) three to seven days, (ii) eight to 14 days, (iii) 15 to 30 days, (iv) 31 days to three months, (v) more than three months to six months, (vi) more than six months to one year, (vii) more than one year to two years, and (viii) more than two years, in each year since 2014;
(2) of the respective numbers of employees injured at work who were assessed, by the Employees' Compensation Assessment Boards in each year since 2014, to have suffered from the following percentages of permanent loss of earning capacity: (i) 5% or below, (ii) 6% to 10%, (iii) 11% to 20%, (iv) 21% to 30%, (v) 31% to 50%, (vi) 51% to 70%, and (vii) 71% or above; and
(3) given that employers and employees may, in respect of work injury cases which entail a period of sick leave exceeding seven days, agree on applying to the Labour Department for making settlement by "Paper Medical Clearance", of the year since which this approach has been adopted; the number of work injury cases which were settled in this way in each of the past five years?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the Hon Ho Kai-ming's question is as follows:
(1) From 2014 to 2018, the number of compensation claims settled in each year involving incapacitation of employees for more than three days as a result of work injuries (including compensation claims reported to the Labour Department (LD) under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (ECO) in or before the respective settlement year) with a breakdown by the number of working days lost is provided below:
| Number of working days lost* | Number of settled compensation claims | ||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Below eight days | 12 300 | 12 407 | 12 161 | 11 572 | 11 963 |
| Eight to below 15 days | 6 702 | 6 508 | 5 962 | 5 543 | 5 572 |
| 15 to below 30 days | 4 404 | 4 169 | 3 951 | 3 752 | 3 898 |
| 30 to below 90 days | 4 701 | 4 740 | 4 612 | 4 384 | 4 476 |
| 90 to below 180 days | 2 783 | 2 902 | 2 787 | 2 741 | 2 788 |
| 180 to below 360 days | 2 196 | 2 334 | 2 366 | 2 296 | 2 548 |
| 360 to below 720 days | 1 765 | 1 795 | 1 956 | 1 801 | 1 881 |
| 720 days or above | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 34 853 | 34 858 | 33 796 | 32 091 | 33 127 |
*The number of working days lost includes both the number of sick leave days granted and taken and the period of absence from duty certified to be necessary by the Employees' Compensation Assessment Board under ECO.
If the work injury sick leave of an employee does not exceed three days and no permanent incapacity is involved, the employer should make direct payment of compensation to the employee in accordance with ECO. LD does not keep statistics on the number of working days lost for this type of cases.
(2) From 2014 to 2018, the number of compensation claims settled in each year involving incapacitation of employees for more than three days as a result of work injuries (including compensation claims reported to LD under ECO in or before the respective settlement year) with a breakdown by the percentage of permanent loss of earning capacity of employees is provided below:
| Percentage of permanent loss of earning capacity | Number of settled compensation claims | ||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Assessment not required | 19 475 | 19 484 | 18 710 | 18 447 | 18 907 |
| 0% to 5% | 14 223 | 14 221 | 14 074 | 12 703 | 13 274 |
| Above 5% to 10% | 744 | 769 | 673 | 649 | 678 |
| Above 10% to 20% | 243 | 224 | 207 | 168 | 163 |
| Above 20% to 30% | 73 | 66 | 50 | 48 | 41 |
| Above 30% to 50% | 53 | 51 | 41 | 42 | 46 |
| Above 50% to 70% | 25 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 6 |
| Above 70% | 17 | 24 | 24 | 15 | 12 |
| Total | 34 853 | 34 858 | 33 796 | 32 091 | 33 127 |
(3) LD has been providing the "Paper Medical Clearance" option since 1998. In work injury cases where the sick leave has already ended and the injury does not lead to any permanent incapacity, employers and employees may thereby agree to complete the follow-up procedures for sick leave in writing and LD will issue the "Certificate of Compensation Assessment" direct for settling the claims. LD does not keep statistics on the work injury cases settled by "Paper Medical Clearance". LD will further enhance the follow-up procedures for sick leave by proactively inviting employers and employees of work injury cases which meet the above criteria to settle their claims by "Paper Medical Clearance", with a view to speeding up the case processing.
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