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Academic
: Law at the End of the DayAnd Speaking of Labor Markets: Labor Market Equity for the Disabled in Hing Kong, Report of the Community Development Initiative
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The Executive Summary of "Creating Employment Opportunities" is reproduced below:
I. After years of battle by the labour sector and grass-root groups, the issue of minimum wage is already in the process of legislation. However, if the capability assessment mechanism is introduced to the disabled employees, according to their below ?normal? productivity, their wages will be discounted. We believe allowing the disabled to receive wages below the minimum wage violates the spirit of minimum wage.
II. Currently, among the 347,000 disabled (excluding the Intellectual Disabled) aged above 15, 45,800 (13.2%) disabled engage in paid employment. For the other 302,100 disabled who are unemployed, most of them are forced to retire due to the lack of work opportunities. Thus we can conclude that, the disabled are not widely accepted by the market.
III. Because of many different reasons, most of the employed disabled are currently employed in Non-Government Organizations (?NGOs?). A majority of them are working at sheltered workshops and social enterprises which could only provide comparatively lower salaries to maintain their competitiveness in the market. Hence, the income of the disabled is generally lower than the work force .Almost 30% of the employed disabled are making below $4,000 per month. Obviously, even the disabled could become self-reliant, they could not ?rehabilitate their lives?.
IV. As the current mechanism cannot solve the disabled?s employment problems comprehensively, we would like to suggest the HKSAR government to impose a ?Voluntary First, Mandatory Second? Disabled Employee Quota System to provide a larger and more user-friendly employment space for the disabled, our suggestions are as follow:
? Gradual enforcement of the disabled employment quotas system. At the beginning, only the government divisions, public sectors and subsidized organizations are required to employ 2% of disabled employees, and the results are reported every year. Departments which meet the target are rewarded financially.
? Encouraging the business sector and other organizations to impose their own voluntary quota system. Small and Medium Enterprises with less than 50 people are exempted
? Buying products and services from social enterprises to replace direct employment of the disabled is also allowed.
? May provide tax concessions and other support to reward the organizations that meet the target.
? Finally, institutionalizing the above measures through the legislative system when the society has a common consent on employing the disabled.
V. Apart from the above mentioned, for the improvement of livelihood of the disabled, it is not enough by simply providing them with employment opportunities alone. If the disabled could only make low incomes, they could not even support their own daily livings, and their difficulties are not resolved. Hence, both the legislation of minimum wages and the creation of employment opportunities for the disabled are indispensable and should be carried out at the same time.
VI. Nevertheless, the legislation of minimum wage is to guarantee each labour is paid with adequate income for making a living and to ensure he labour could lead a decent life. If the meaning of ?labour? is those who contribute their effort in production, it is not justifiable that the disabled are to be exempted. In order to make sure the operational cost of enterprises will not soar, governments in different countries usually set the minimum wage at a comparatively low level. If the disabled are to be paid at a discount of the minimum wage according to their capability assessment, what is the ultimate meaning for protecting them in accordance with the minimum wages?
VII. The arrangement for the disabled to call for a voluntary capability assessment is an acceptable solution to protect the employment opportunities of the disabled from negative impact. In this case the employer will not need to bear the cost of the enforcement of minimum wage, but since there is no disability social security in Hong Kong, if the disabled take the discounted wage, they cannot even maintain their basic livings. Therefore the government is responsible to fill the gap between the discounted wage rate and the minimum wage. If the disabled are evaluated as possessing half of productivity of an able-bodied worker, that particular employer may give 50% of the minimum wages to that employee, while the remaining 50% should be paid by the government.
Full post as published by Law at the End of the Day on July 20, 2010 (boomark / email).
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