Scheme offers to help injured employees recover, return to work as soon as possible
Hong Kong's pilot programme assisting injured employees in returning to work has been expanded to include workers in the catering and hotel industry, as well as the transportation and logistics industry.
According to the Hong Kong government, its Pilot Rehabilitation Programme for Employees Injured at Work will now cover occupational injury cases in the two sectors that occurred on or after April 1, 2024.
The pilot programme was launched in September 2022 to facilitate injured construction sector employees' early recovery and return to work, according to the project's website.
It adopts a case management approach to provide immediate private out-patient rehabilitation treatment services to participating injured employees.
Treatment services include medical, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, as well as Imaging Examination Service and Electrodiagnostic Testing Service.
The scheme started out covering only employees in Hong Kong's construction sector. And as of May 2024, the programme has attracted over 700 injured construction workers and helped them with their recovery and return to work.
The scheme was launched amid long waiting time for rehabilitation treatment services in Hong Kong's public hospitals and clinics. This leaves injured employees to remain absent from work due to injury and lower their chances of returning to their jobs.
