If your employee gets injured at work due to an accident arising out of and in the course of employment, you are generally liable to pay compensation to them pursuant to the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282). Nevertheless, both you and your employee bear certain responsibilities when an accident has occurred.
Employees’ responsibilities
To ensure that your employee’s claim is processed smoothly, they may have already taken certain steps:
- Notify you or your representatives (e.g. the human resources department or the supervisor) of their work-related injury
- Receive medical treatment or examination
- Provide you with details of the work-related injury for the purpose of facilitating their report to the Labour Department
- Submit the originals of the sick leave certificates and medical expenses receipts (relating to any medical consultation and/or follow-up treatment) to you
- If the case involves no dispute, attend medical clearance at the Labour Department’s Occupational Medicine Unit
- Keep a record of their employment information, such as addresses and names of the principal contractor and the immediate employer, written proof of the employer-employee relationship as well as their payment and attendance records
Employers’ responsibilities
On the other hand, you have a duty to ensure that the workplace is safe for your employees and to protect them from harmful accidents whilst they are at work. The general duty owed by you towards your employees includes:
- Providing a proper work system
- Providing sufficient material
- Providing effective supervision
You are also responsible for notifying the Labour Department of any work-related incident in Form 2 or Form 2B (section 15 of the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282)). A deadline is stipulated for submitting the form – 14 days after the incident for a case of work-related injury. If you fail to inform the Labour Department, you may be criminally liable to prosecution and a maximum fine of $50,000 upon conviction if you do not have any reasonable excuse for such failure (section 15 of the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282)).
Key takeaways
- If your employee gets injured at work due to an accident arising out of and in the course of employment, they are entitled to receive compensation from you.
- However, both you and your employee bear certain responsibilities when an accident has occurred. If any of you fail to perform these duties, you may suffer any unnecessary and avoidable consequences, whether it is legal or not.
Bibliography:
- Hong Kong Government, ‘How to Handle Compensation Claims after Work Injury’: https://www.gov.hk/en/residents/employment/employee/workinjury.htm#:~:text=periodical%20payments%20at%20the%20rate,payment%20of%20medical%20expenses%3B%20and
- Labour Department, ‘Handling of Employees’ Compensation Case: Points to Note for Employees’: https://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/ecd/HECC_PointsToNoteForEmployees.pdf
- Labour Department, ‘Points to Note for Employees Injured at Work’: https://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/ecd/Employees_Injured_At_Work.pdf