Hong Kong government must support all firms that hire elderly workers

The Hong Kong government should be thankful to the firms that hire workers over the age of 65, which is a service to society. However, the government does not support such employers with wage subsidies under the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) if these senior citizens do not have a Mandatory Provident Fund account.

Why should the ESS not support firms that employ elderly workers?

Say a firm hired a 66-year-old in 2010 and that person is still in employment. The firm is ready to prove that: the employee has been with the firm for 10 years; the firm has paid their salary every month in that time and has proof monthly pay cheques were issued to the employee; it can show bank statements for the last 10 years proving those cheques were cashed; the employee can show they have sent salaries tax forms to the Inland Revenue Department for the last 10 years; and the firm can prove it informed the government for the last 10 years that it has employed a senior citizen and that the IRD could collect salaries tax from that employee.

In this case, why should the government not support this employer with ESS payments of HK$9,000 per month for six months? 

I know the Hong Kong government was considering how to provide ESS payments to employers and chose MPF as the basis, but I don’t understand why they should penalise firms employing people older than 65.

I understand the government’s view that firms should not abuse the scheme, but for senior citizens, they could say the firm must have employed them for at least a year or two and that it should have enough support documents to claim ESS payment for staff older than 65.

In fact, the government should thank firms that hire senior citizens. Is it sending a message to employers not to hire elderly workers?

Gary Ahuja, Tsim Sha Tsui

Use hotels to house high-end travellers

I support the government’s move to build more quarantine facilities. However, as a world-class, business-friendly city, ideally the fastest way to deal with arriving international business passengers would be to sublease three hotels and categorise them into accommodation for those from high-risk, medium-risk and low-risk countries.

Passengers may then be allocated rooms accordingly to spend their quarantine period at these hotels.

Please consider giving affluent business travellers or returning residents the option to stay at a hotel and enjoy better facilities during an already difficult time for them.

Rishi Teckchandani, Mid-Levels