Govt Relaxes Employment Support Scheme

The government on Thursday said it will relax the employment support scheme (ESS) to also include big companies and businesses.

Officials last month proposed a new round of subsidies to help small and medium-sized firms pay salaries for staff who earn less than HK$30,000 a month amid the fifth wave of Covid-19 infections.

Each company stands to receive HK$24,000 from May to July, or HK$8,000 each month, for each eligible worker.

However, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said after consulting various stakeholders, the administration has decided to drop the salary cap and will also allow more companies to apply for the money, but the number of employees for each company that can benefit from the subsidy will be capped at 1,000.

“We want to focus the resources on SMEs, we don’t think we should give full subsidies to mega corporations, for example chain restaurants or franchised bus companies. It’s not possible for us to help 5,000 or 6,000 employees who work in big corporations,” Lam said in a press conference.

“We think the 1,000 headcount is reasonable. I don't see why they would fire employees on top of that amount because we have already helped a thousand of their staff, and they still have to operate,” she added.

Specific industries, such as supermarkets, pharmacies and delivery firms that weren't hard hit by the latest wave of Covid infections had originally been excluded from the scheme, but Lam said smaller businesses that employ no more than 100 staff will now be eligible to benefit from the scheme.

Employers may also apply for a subsidy for part-timers and freelancers, but the money will be halved to HK$4,000, she said, adding that people who are self-employed and employees who are aged 65 and above can also benefit from the scheme as long as they have an MPF account.

Officials estimated that some 1.74 million employees will benefit after the relaxation and the scheme will now cost HK$43 billion – HK$12 billion more than the original proposal.

Separately, authorities say they have so far received about 360,000 applications for the government's temporary unemployment relief for those who've lost their jobs during the fifth Covid wave, and it’s expected the first batch of 60,000 applicants will receive HK$10,000 from next Tuesday.

The deadline for applications is April 12.