2022 Employment Support Scheme - Points to note for employers in relation to changes in employee headcounts
According to the Government, pursuant to the 2022 Employment Support Scheme (ESS), 77,000 employers have had their wage subsidies for May 2022 approved, representing total funding of approximately HK$5.2 billion. As a brief reminder, the ESS is a support scheme first implemented in 2020 to provide employers with the financial support needed to retain their employees. The financial support given was in the form of wage subsidies disbursed in 2 tranches, with the first tranche used for employee wages during the period from June to August 2020, and the second tranche used for the period from September to November 2020. Like the ESS implemented in 2020, the 2022 ESS will also provide successful employer applicants with wage subsidies, but the focus of the scheme is to help businesses rebuild as quickly as possible and to encourage employers to increase their employment rates (as opposed to merely keeping businesses afloat).
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