【立法會議題】遣散費及長期服務金 (Severance payment and long service payment).....!

[新聞公報] 以下為今日（六月二十四日）在立法會會議上黃國健議員的提問和勞工及福利局局長張建宗的答覆：

根據《僱傭條例》，月薪僱員的遣散費及長期服務金的計算方法是，僱員最後一個月或最後12個月平均工資（以22,500元為上限，下稱「月薪上限」），乘以可追溯服務年資，再乘以三分之二。僱員可得的遣散費或長期服務金上限為390,000元（下稱「最高款額」）。就此，政府可否告知本會：

（一）過去五年，全港僱員當中，每月就業收入分別為月薪上限及高於該金額的人數及百分比分別為何，以及該金額在全港僱員每月工資的百分位數為何，並按年列出該等數字；

（二）過去五年，獲發遣散費及長期服務金的僱員人數分別為何；該等僱員當中，最後一個月或最後12個月平均工資為月薪上限或以上及獲發最高款額的人數及百分比分別為何，並按年列出該等數字；及

（三）自《僱傭條例》加入關於遣散費及長期服務金的條文至今，月薪上限及最高款額分別的調整次數、年份及幅度為何，以及當局根據甚麼準則釐訂該等款額的新水平及決定需否檢討；當局自上次調整至今未有對該等款額作出調整的原因，以及有否計劃盡快作出調整，以對應僱員目前的工資水平；若有，詳情為何；若否，原因為何？

答覆：

主席:

就黃國健議員的提問，我現答覆如下:

（一）根據政府統計處進行的「綜合住戶統計調查」，過去五年，每月就業收入為22,500元或以下及高於22,500元的僱員人數，及其佔總僱員人數的百分比；以及22,500元在全港僱員每月工資的百分位數的資料，載於附件。

（二）根據《僱傭條例》，僱主在遣散僱員或解僱受僱不少於五年的僱員時，須向符合條例規定的僱員，分別支付遣散費或長期服務金。然而，法例並沒有要求僱主在向僱員發放這些款項時，向政府通報他們所支付的款額。因此，政府並沒有備存獲發遣散費及長期服務金的僱員人數資料，以及這些僱員最後一個月或最後12個月平均工資為月薪上限或以上，及獲發最高款額的人數及百分比的資料。

（三）《僱傭條例》於一九六八年制定時，其適用範圍只包括所有體力勞動僱員，以及月入不超過指定款額的非體力勞動僱員。自一九九○年六月起，該條例的適用範圍擴展至涵蓋所有體力勞動和非體力勞動僱員，不論其工資水平。而當時計算遣散費及長期服務金的月薪上限則訂明為15,000元，於一九九五年，這月薪上限調升至每月22,500元。

在最高款額方面，當引入遣散費及長期服務金時，《僱傭條例》訂明僱員可得的最高款額為12個月的工資總額。其後，因應《僱傭條例》的適用範圍擴大，有關款額亦於一九九○年六月修訂為12個月的工資總額或180,000元，兩者以較低者為準。《僱傭條例》於一九九五年再作出修訂，取消12個月工資總額的上限，並把最高款額的上限由180,000元增加至210,000元，及其後逐年增加20,000元至二○○三年十月一日的390,000元。

一直以來，政府按照香港社會的轉變和經濟發展的步伐，不時檢討勞工法例，在合理平衡僱主及僱員利益的大前提下，循序漸進地改善僱員的權益和福利。遣散費及長期服務金的目的，是為被遣散或在長時間為同一僱主工作而遭解僱或離職的僱員提供補償，以紓緩僱員因失去工作而面臨的財政壓力。如上所述，政府因應當時的社會環境，及僱員整體的福利情況，透過循序漸進的方式，於一九九五年至二○○三年間加強僱員在遣散費及長期服務金下可得到的保障。另外，由二○○○年開始，政府推行強制性公積金制度，為僱員提供法定退休保障。

根據政府統計處的「綜合住戶統計調查」，在二○一四年，本港僱員的每月就業收入中位數為13,000元。現時《僱傭條例》中用以計算遣散費及長期服務金的月薪上限（即22,500元），仍然較本港大部分僱員的月薪水平為高，應可涵蓋大多數僱員，而遣散費及長期服務金的最高款額390,000元亦已能提供合理水平的經濟支援。如將該月薪上限或最高款額作進一步調升，僱主在遣散僱員或解僱受僱五年以上的僱員時，除必須清付法例中其他的相關補償外，還需要作出比現時更高的遣散費或長期服務金補償。因結業或生意需求縮減而需要裁員的僱主，尤其是中小企，會因而增加財政負擔。現時香港有超過百分之九十八的企業為中小企，政府必須小心衡量他們的承擔能力。政府在現階段無計劃更改現時適用於這兩項保障的法定月薪上限及最高款額水平。

完２０１５年６月２４日（星期三）香港時間１４時４５分

Following is a question by Hon Wong Kwok-kin and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (June 24):

Question:

Under the Employment Ordinance (EO), the amount of severance payment (SP) and long service payment (LSP) of a monthly rated employee is calculated by multiplying his last month's wages or the average monthly wages in the last 12 months (which is capped at $22,500, "monthly wage cap") by reckonable years of service and then by two-thirds. The maximum amount of SP or LSP payable to an employee is $390,000 (the maximum amount). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) among the employees in Hong Kong, of the respective numbers and percentages of those whose monthly employment earnings were equivalent to the monthly wage cap and above such amount, and the percentile of such amount in the monthly wages of Hong Kong employees, in the past five years, together with a breakdown by year;

(2) of the respective numbers of employees who were paid SPs and LSPs in the past five years; among these employees, the respective numbers and percentages of those whose last month's wages or average monthly wages in the last 12 months were equivalent to or above the monthly wage cap and of those who were paid the maximum amount, together with a breakdown by year; and

(3) of the respective numbers of adjustments made to the monthly wage cap and the maximum amount since the inclusion of the provisions related to SP and LSP in EO, the years in which such adjustments were made and the rates of such adjustments, as well as the criteria based on which the authorities determined the new levels of such amounts and decided whether a review was necessary; the reasons for the authorities not making any adjustment to such amounts since the last adjustment and whether they have any plan to make adjustments expeditiously to tie in with the current wage level of employees; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

My reply to the question of Hon Wong Kwok-kin is as follows:

(1) Based on the General Household Survey conducted by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the information on the respective numbers and percentages of employees with monthly employment earnings of $22,500 or below, and above $22,500, as well as the percentile of monthly employment earnings of $22,500 in the past five years is set out at Annex.

(2) Under the Employment Ordinance (EO), employers are obliged to make severance payment (SP) to eligible employees upon retrenchment or long service payment (LSP) to eligible employees with not less than five years' service upon dismissal. However, the law does not require employers to report to the Government the amount of SP and LSP payable when they make such payments to their employees. The Government therefore does not have information on the number of employees paid SP and LSP, the number and percentage of such employees with their last month's wages or average monthly wages in the last 12 months equal to or above the monthly wage cap, and the number of employees paid the maximum payment amount and its percentage. 

(3) When EO was first enacted in 1968, it applied only to all manual employees and non-manual employees with monthly wages not exceeding a specific level. With effect from June 1990, the coverage of EO was extended to all manual and non-manual employees irrespective of their wage levels and a monthly wage cap of $15,000 was set for the purpose of calculating SP and LSP. This monthly wage cap was raised to $22,500 in 1995.

In respect of the maximum payment amount, at the time when SP and LSP were introduced, EO specified 12-months' wages as the maximum amount payable to an employee. With the extension of EO's coverage, this amount was subsequently amended in June 1990 to a maximum of 12 months' wages or $180,000, whichever was the lower. In 1995, EO was further amended to remove the cap on 12-months' wages, and to increase the ceiling from $180,000 to $210,000, and a further increase of $20,000 each year till it reached $390,000 on October 1, 2003.

All along, the Government has reviewed labour legislation from time to time so as to improve employees' rights and benefits progressively, having regard to Hong Kong's social changes and pace of economic development, and taking into account the need to strike a reasonable balance between the interests of employees and employers. The purpose of SP and LSP is to provide compensation to employees who are retrenched, or are dismissed/leave employment after having served the same employer for a long period of time, so as to help alleviate an employee's financial hardship caused by loss of employment. As stated above, the Government has strengthened employees' protection in connection with SP and LSP progressively from 1995 to 2003, having regard to the prevailing social circumstances and the overall situation of employees' benefits. Separately, the Government introduced the Mandatory Provident Fund System since 2000 to provide statutory retirement protection to employees.

According to the General Household Survey conducted by C&SD, the median monthly employment earnings of employees in Hong Kong in 2014 was $13,000. At present, the current monthly wage cap ($22,500) for calculating SP and LSP as laid down in EO is still far above the monthly wages of most employees and should be able to cover the majority of the cases, while the maximum payment amount of $390,000 for SP and LSP should also be able to provide a reasonable level of economic support to employees. If such monthly wage cap and maximum amount were to be raised further, employers would have to, on top of other compensation under EO, pay a higher amount of SP or LSP in retrenching employees or dismissing those with more than five years' service. Employers retrenching workers owing to cessation of business or downsizing of operations, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), would have to shoulder additional financial burden. Currently, over 98 per cent of the enterprises in Hong Kong are SMEs and careful consideration should be given to their affordability. The Government has no plan at this stage to change the current statutory monthly wage cap and level of maximum payment amount applicable to SP and LSP.

Ends/Wednesday, June 24, 2015 Issued at HKT 14:46