Introduction

The Employment Programme for the Elderly and Middle-aged (EPEM) aims at encouraging employers to engage unemployed job seekers aged 40 or above in full-time or part-time long-term job vacancies and provide the job seekers with on-the-job training (OJT), through the provision of OJT allowance to employers. This will enable job seekers to adapt to new work environment and acquire essential job-specific skills. Upon completion of OJT by eligible employees under EPEM, employers engaging elderly job seekers aged 60 or above who are unemployed or have left the workforce may apply for an OJT allowance of up to $5,000 per month of OJT period per employee for 6 to 12 months; while employers engaging unemployed job seekers aged 40 to 59 may apply for an OJT allowance of up to $4,000 per month of OJT period per employee for 3 to 6 months.

In addition, the Labour Department (LD) has launched a three-year Re-employment Allowance Pilot Scheme (the Scheme) on 15 July 2024, targeting persons aged 40 or above who have not been in paid employment for 3 consecutive months or more. Employers of the Scheme participants can at the same time enrol in EPEM to provide OJT to the participants. LD will disburse OJT allowance to eligible employers and extend the duration of OJT period under EPEM, after verification of the employee's eligibility. The length of OJT period would generally be 6 months for employees aged 40 to 59 and 12 months for employees aged 60 or above. Employers should submit a completed "Preliminary Application Form for On-the-Job Training (Applicable for Re-employment Allowance Pilot Scheme)" (1,433KB).

Job-seekers

Eligibility

1. Job seekers must (i) be Hong Kong residents aged 40 or above at the time of employment, (ii) have an unemployment period of not less than 1 month within 1 year prior to the commencement date of employment, (iii) be lawfully employable in Hong Kong^{(Note 1)}, (iv) not be the specified classes of persons^{(Note 2)}, and (v) be registered as an employment service user with job centres of LD, who commences employment after the vacancy has been accepted for display by LD.

   ^{(Note 1)}

   For the definition of "lawfully employable in Hong Kong", please visit the webpage of the Immigration Department: https://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/useful_information/dont-employ-illegal.htmlFor the avoidance of doubt, persons and their dependants admitted to Hong Kong on employment and student conditions are not eligible to join EPEM.

   ^{(Note 2)}

   Refer to persons and their dependants who have been admitted to Hong Kong through various admission schemes for talents and capital investors. Such schemes include, but are not limited to, the Top Talent Pass Scheme, the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates, the General Employment Policy (GEP), the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP), the GEP and ASMTP (Technical Professionals Stream), the Technology Talent Admission Scheme, the Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents, the Vocational Professionals Admission Scheme, the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme and the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme.

2. There is no kinship tie or prior employment relationship between the placed job seeker and the employer (including proprietor, partner or director of the company/organisation).

Registration

No prior registration as an employment service user under EPEM is required. After job seekers have secured full-time or part-time (part-time means (1) employed under a continuous contract^(Note); and (2) working hours of (i) less than 30 hours per week, or (ii) less than 120 hours in every four-week period) employment from long-term job vacancies accepted for display by the Labour Department (LD), and their employers have submitted the completed "Preliminary Application Form for On-the-Job Training" (1,054KB) to LD within the first month of employment, they can complete the relevant registration procedures at any job centre.

^@ The new requirement has no retrospective effect. For an employment period before this date, an employee is required to be employed continuously by the same employer for four weeks or more and has worked for at least 18 hours or more each week to meet the "continuous contract" requirement.

Employers

Eligibility

Employers have to register their vacancies of full-time or part-time long-term posts with LD and employ elderly or middle-aged job seekers who meet the eligibility criteria of EPEM to fill such posts. Within the first month after the commencement date of employment of the employees, employers may submit preliminary applications to LD for the provision of OJT to the newly hired employees under EPEM.

On-the-job Training and Training Allowance

Under EPEM, employers have to provide OJT to the placed job seekers during the approved period, and assign experienced employees as mentors. The provision of OJT is to enable newly hired employee to adapt to new work environment and acquire essential job-specific skills. In general, OJT lasts for 3 months for employees aged 40 to 59 and 6 months for employees aged 60 or above. Depending on the case circumstances (e.g. the employee already possesses the job skills and/or experience required for the position before employment), LD has the right to approve a shorter OJT period than in general cases, or to refuse the relevant application. On the other hand, subject to the approval of LD with assessment on the nature of the post and business, experience of the employees and mentors, and mode and content of the training, etc., the OJT period may be extended to a maximum of 6 months for employees aged 40 to 59 and 12 months for employees aged 60 or above for deserving cases in which employers have to provide information for vetting.

Upon completion of OJT by eligible employees under EPEM, participating employers may, in respect of each employee, apply for OJT allowance from LD with details as tabulated below:

^ Age of employee at the commencement of employment.

* Under EPEM, "salary" means any remuneration expressed in monetary terms, payable by an employer to an employee, including any wages, overtime pay, commission, allowance (e.g. good attendance allowance), pay for taken leaves, holidays and rest days, and employee's contributions to Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") Scheme, but excludes (i) reimbursement for actual expenses incurred by an employee; (ii) compensation for termination of employment (e.g. wages in lieu of notice and pay for untaken annual leave); (iii) year-end payment; (iv) gratuity; (v) payment of a gratuitous nature or payable at an employer's discretion (e.g. bonus / perquisite / irregular payment / non-recurrent allowance); (vi) periodical payment arising from work injuries; (vii) an employer's contributions to MPF Scheme; (viii) deductions (e.g. uniform deposits) without proof of repayment. Items (i) to (viii) stated in the above would not be taken into account for computing the amount of OJT allowance.

# Part-time means (1) employed under a continuous contract^(Note); and (2) working hours of (i) less than 30 hours per week, or (ii) less than 120 hours in every four-week period.

^@ The new requirement has no retrospective effect. For an employment period before this date, an employee is required to be employed continuously by the same employer for four weeks or more and has worked for at least 18 hours or more each week to meet the "continuous contract" requirement.

Registration

Employers should register their full-time or part-time long-term job vacancies with LD [Employers who would like to use the recruitment services of LD should register here and submit the online version of the Vacancy Order Form(s)] and may indicate that they welcome applications from elderly and middle-aged persons. After the job vacancies are accepted for display by LD, job seekers obtain vacancy information and apply for the posts in accordance with the application methods stipulated in "Application Information" on the relevant job vacancies.

When employers employ eligible job seekers under EPEM, they have to submit a completed "Preliminary Application Form for On-the-Job Training" (1,054KB), together with copies of Business Registration Certificate, Certificate of Registration of a School or other recognised licence, to the Programme Office [Address: Units 3507-3512, 35/F, Tower 1, Millennium City 1, 388 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon (no counter service). Fax no. 2391 3937] within (i) 3 months from the date when the job vacancy is posted at LD, and (ii) the first month after the commencement of employment of the job seekers. LD has the right to request the employer to submit supporting documents on the salary and hours of work of the job, "Training Plan", employment proof of mentor, employer's tax records, etc. for examination.

For enquiries, please contact EPEM Hotline : 2150 6398