Review Report on the Lump Sum Grant Subvention ... - lwb.gov.hk

provisions of the Employment Ordinance (Cap.57) or the Apprenticeship Ordinance(Cap.47). It also deals with cases involving breaches of contracts of employment orapprenticeship. Claims lodged by both employees and employers are heard at theLabour Tribunal. A common item of claim lodged by employers, for example, is thewages in lieu of notice on the employees’ resignation or termination of contract ofemployment.8.6 Nonetheless, the Labour Tribunal only hears cases where the amount ofclaim exceeds $8,000 for at least one of the claimants in a claim or where the numberof claimants in the claim exceeds ten. Claims lodged by not more than ten claimantsfor a sum of money not exceeding $8,000 per claimant are dealt with by the MinorEmployment Claims Adjudication Board.The Ombudsman8.7 Likewise, a complaint about the SWD does not necessarily have to be dealtwith as a welfare issue. For instance, if the SWD fails to respond to an enquiryabout its service within a reasonable period of time, the aggrieved member of thepublic can request an explanation from the department itself or lodge a complaint withthe Ombudsman. The Ombudsman has a mission to redress grievances and addressissues arising from maladministration in the public sector and bring aboutimprovement in the quality and standard of, and promote fairness in, publicadministration. Among other functions, it investigates complaints against almost allgovernment departments and major public organisations for alleged maladministrationsuch as inefficiency, unreasonable or improper actions or procedures, abuse of power,negligence and disparity of treatment, etc. If the Ombudsman detects administrativefaults after investigating the complaint, she may make recommendations to correct it.For instance, she may recommend the relevant authority to review a decision, changea procedure or suggest some other remedies. While ensuring that wrongs are righted,she also points out facts when public officers are unjustly accused.8.8 As in any complaints handing mechanism, there are also limits to theOmbudsman’s power of investigation. According to the Ombudsman Ordinance(Cap.397), the Ombudsman will not investigate complaints about policy, personnelmatters or contractual/ commercial transactions, or complaints not made by theaggrieved himself or an office bearer acting on behalf of a body corporate. TheOmbudsman will not take action on cases for which the complainant has a statutory- 97 -