Coronavirus: Hong Kong government to expand HK$80 billion wage subsidy scheme to include seniors and vulnerable
- Chief Executive Carrie Lam announces changes to employment support scheme
- Employers can start applying for financial aid later this month
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced on Tuesday that companies could start applying from May 25 for the bailout, which was unveiled last month and will see the government paying up to 50 per cent of workers’ salaries for half a year, capped at HK$9,000 (US$1,160) a month.
Some 1.5 million people, who have been making monthly contributions to their Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) pension scheme accounts, are expected to get a helping hand. But that requirement has sparked criticism as workers aged 65 or above, and therefore exempted from the MPF scheme, would be excluded.
Lam revealed details of the bailout as the city broke a 23-day stretch with no new locally transmitted Covid-19 infections to report that a 66-year-old woman without any recent travel history had tested positive.
It is meaningless to talk about protecting workers if you cannot protect their pay
Lam said the application period would last for three weeks, and the subsidies for the first tranche – for June, July and August – would be handed out to employers three to four weeks after an application was made.
