Application procedures for a fund helping workers whose employers have gone bankrupt should be improved, a trade union said yesterday.
The Neighbourhood and Workers' Service Centre said although there had been a sharp increase in applications for the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, not all workers were granted the funding because of the complicated procedures.
Union executive officer Sung Chee-tak said: 'The application procedures are too complicated and take a long time.' He said if employers refused to pay salaries, wages in lieu of notice and severance payments, employees would have to apply for forced liquidation from the Legal Aid Department.
The Labour Department should help workers apply for bankruptcy and forced liquidation from the Legal Aid Department, he added.
He said the maximum payment from the fund should increase from $36,000 to $44,000. The union also asked that the means test for applicants be waived.
'If an applicant is not granted legal aid, he has to fork out a huge sum in legal fees. This will discourage him from pursuing his claims,' Mr Sung said.