SCMP - Charities multiply in a legal vacuum

南華早報
Daniel Sin and Phyllis Tsang2009-10-04
headline

Charities multiply in a legal vacuum

ICAC, law body act on groups' fund-raising

The number of charities in Hong Kong has ballooned to nearly 6,000 and charitable donations appear to be rising, yet few rules govern such groups' activities.

Now authorities are to propose more guidance for them, while legal scholars and lawyers are suggesting a thorough overhaul of laws.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption will this week announce guidelines for charities on how to plug fund-raising loopholes that could facilitate corruption. They focus on how charities manage their accounts and encourage them to disclose their accounts to donors in a fair and just manner.

The ICAC's corruption prevention department began a study of charitable fund-raising at the end of last year after several complaints.

The Law Reform Commission will release for discussion early next year a report suggesting a new law be passed to regulate charities. Commission members studying the issue said their initial findings were that a charity commission or similar body should oversee such groups and that all charities should be registered.

The moves follow controversies this summer over the accounts of charities running a school in Yau Tong and a drug rehabilitation centre on Lantau Island.

Pegasus Social Service Christian Organisation - sponsoring body of the Pegasus Philip Wong Kin Hang Christian Primary School cum Junior Secondary School - gave up running it with accounts overdue and amid accusations of maladministration, allegations over the school's outsourcing of services to the organisation and claims parents had loaned the school HK$10 million.

Carmen Leung, the school's supervisor and also the organisation's chairwoman, said the outsourcing was lawful and that "some money is lent to us".

The Christian Zheng Sheng Association was accused of using government money to fund businesses on the mainland and in Japan and Hong Kong. The association said it used its investments to fund its operations, including subsidising the Christian Zheng Sheng College drug facility on Lantau when necessary.

Bernard Chan, the chairman of a Law Reform Commission subcommittee on charities, said the city needed a proper law to regulate charities. "There is not even a [legal] definition of what constitutes a charity or a charitable purpose," he said.

An organisation may apply to the Inland Revenue Department for registration as a charity to get exemption from paying tax. Taxpayers can ask for donations to such bodies to be tax-deductible. The number of charities registered with the department rose from 3,819 in 2003 to 5,898 this year. Tax-deductible donations to charities rose from HK$2.99 billion to HK$7.03 billion over the same period. The department says it has no role to play in regulating charities or their activities.

Chan said defining which groups are charities and what activities need regulating are basic issues.

"For example, if there is a charitable ball held in a hotel, should such activities be regulated? Should a church be registered because it puts a box in a meeting place to collect offerings from the congregation?"

Chan said the panel was studying how other jurisdictions, such as Britain, regulate charities.
The United Kingdom Charities Act, enacted in 2006, defines a charity as a body or trust that is for one or more of 13 charitable purposes that provide benefit to the public. These purposes include poverty relief and the advancement of education, health or religion. A charities commission regulates charities. Those with annual income of ?,000 (HK$61,900) or more must register with the commission.

The commission is empowered to check whether organisations are "fit and proper" to carry out public fund-raising, which must be licensed.

張建宗 最低工資—平衡之道

信報財經新聞
張建宗2009-09-28

最低工資—平衡之道 勞工及福利局局長

立法會今日（九月二十八日）上午審議《最低工資條例草案》。
最低工資向來是個具爭議性的議題，支持的人說可以防止工資過低，反對的人認為有損自由經濟，使基層職位流失。

經濟自由度與法定最低工資可以說並無必然關係，亦非互不相容。紐西蘭、加拿大、澳洲、美國、愛爾蘭和英國都有法定最低工資，但同時在國際知名的自由經濟排行榜上名列前茅，就是活生生的例證。

留宿家傭豁免

香港是高度外向型的經濟體系，又實施聯繫匯率；保持靈活的工資及價格，對經濟競爭力及抗逆力異常重要，這點我們十分清楚；只是，保障弱勢工人和促進社會和諧這兩項社會政策目標，同樣不容忽視。

問題的關鍵是我們能否取得適當的平衡。

事實上，海外經驗的確顯示，只要制定得宜，法定最低工資對經濟可能帶來的負面影響是可以減至最低的。

因此，我們的目標是制定一個恰到好處的法定最低工資，以時薪計算，作為工資的下限，防止工資過低，並確保不會過度影響勞工市場的靈活性、經濟增長和競爭力，和導致基層工作流失。

我們已成立臨時最低工資委員會，向政府建議首個法定最低工資的水平。委員會將採取以數據為依歸的原則，進行數據分析及研究，並廣泛諮詢持份者。委員會將考慮社會的整體利益和一籃子與最低工資水平相關或受其影響的社會、經濟及就業因素。

在涵蓋範圍方面，經廣泛徵詢持份者和充分考慮相關情況後，我們認為必須豁免留宿家庭傭工和指定的實習學員。

豁免留宿家庭傭工主要是考慮到他們獨特的工作模式和享有非現金權益。

法定最低工資以時薪計算，但留宿家庭傭工家務性質繁雜多樣、隨時候命，工作的地方亦是休息的地方，難以計算工時，也因而無法確定工資。除享有免費住宿外，他們大都有免費膳食，也可省卻許多主要開支和上下班的交通費，這些都是非留宿工人沒有的。

至於外籍家庭傭工，除了免費住宿，基本的聘用條款還包括免費膳食或膳食津貼、免費醫療、來回原居地的旅費等。政府早于一九七三年已訂明強制性的「規定最低工資」，保障外傭。雖然只是以行政方式制定，但短付「規定最低工資」同屬《僱傭條例》下的欠薪罪行，僱主須負刑責。

殘疾人士適用

我要強調，外傭對香港社會貢獻重大，是我們寶貴的勞動力。豁免安排適合香港的實際情況，絕非歧視。

至於指定的實習學員，是那些參與由指定教育機構安排或認可的實習工作的學生。有關實習必須屬於有關課程的必修或選修部分，而且符合全日制本地經評審課程所頒授的學術資格。豁免安排可讓學生獲得有關課程不可或缺的在職培訓，同時防止濫用和基層工人可能被取代的情況。

條例草案亦建議殘疾僱員有權要求進行簡單的生產能力評估，以助厘定應否獲得法定最低工資。這個特別安排由政府與殘疾人士、家長和複康團體等持份者共同制定，以減低法定最低工資對殘疾人士就業機會可能產生的影響。

今起審議草案

立法會法案委員會今日展開《最低工資條例草案》的審議工作，統計處亦已著手搜集和處理統計數據。待臨時最低工資委員會作好分析研究，條例草案與實施首個法定最低工資水平的附屬法例通過後，再預留約六個月的時間讓僱主作準備，首個法定最低工資便會實施。

政府信守承諾為最低工資立法，是保障基層勞工權益的里程碑和重大突破，我們定必本著平衡之道，審慎行事，做到最好。