Ms. Caroline Mak
麥瑞琼女士
Chairman of Government Regulations Sub-Committee
政府條例委員會主席
Government Regulations
Sub-Committee
政府條例委員會
“The Sub-Committee has contributed great efforts to upholding and safeguarding
the retail industry’s best interests. We have further strengthened our role as a bridge
between Association members and the Government throughout the year, and have
maintained a high profile as the key opinion leader in terms of legislation and policies-
making relating to the trade.”
「委員會不遺餘力，積極捍衛及維護零售業的最佳利益。作為會員與政府之
間的溝通橋樑，協會年內進一步加強了橋樑角色，並且作為最能代表本港零
售業的機構，協會將繼續保持高知名度，積極地就影響業界的條例草案及政
府政策事宜，為業界發聲。」
Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Offsetting
Arrangement
Discussions on offsetting accrued employee benefits derived
from employers’ contributions to the MPF Scheme jumped to
the forefront of the Sub-Committee’s attention this year. It has
been our advocacy on maintaining and observing the long-
established offsetting mechanism.
Since the launch of MPF Scheme in 1995, it has been the
Government’s attention to make its Scheme-related policies
adhere to the offsetting arrangement under the Employment
Ordinance. Through this arrangement, employers are allowed to
offset the severance payment or long service payment payable
to their employees against their contributions to MPF schemes.
It was made in such a way so that employers were not required
to make double payments.
In the year, we worked closely with major stakeholders in the
business community and key trade associations such as The
Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Employers’
Federation of Hong Kong, and highlighted to the Government
what would be the adverse impacts when the offsetting
mechanism would be abolished.
In reiterating our stance, we highlighted that the abolishment of this
arrangement would bring about an unpredictable hike in labour
costs, and would eventually lead to extensive close-downs. In
particular, these would most likely take place among SME retailers
who have been running businesses on a thin profit margin.
Competition Ordinance
The Association, together with its members, has always been
committed to fair practices and not in any way to facilitate anti-
competitive agreements.
Following the introduction of the Competition Ordinance, which
came into effect in December 2015, we have put in place the
“Competition Law Compliance Policy” with an aim to help
our members sitting on committees, organizing committees,
working groups and task forces comply with the Ordinance
whenever they deal with the Association’s work.
We are also devoted to keep members abreast of the new
provisions under the Competition Ordinance. Throughout
the year, we organized seminars to update our members on
the Ordinance and its Guidelines, especially the risks and
compliance issues relating to the retail sector. Representatives
from the Competition Commission and legal practitioners also
joined the events as guest speakers.
強制性公積金（強積金）對沖安排
關於強積金對沖機制的討論，躍升為委員會年
內的重點議題。協會一直倡議維護及遵從這個
長期建立的機制。
自1995年推行強積金計劃以來，政府一直專注
於將強積金計劃相關的政策盡量緊貼《僱傭條
例》下的對沖安排。此安排容許僱主從其僱員
的強積金帳戶內僱主供款部分的累算權益中提
取款項，以抵銷須向僱員支付的遣散費或長期
服務金。在此機制下，僱主毋須重複支付有關
款項。
協會年內與商界主要持份者以及香港總商會
及香港僱主聯合會等商會團體緊密合作，並
已向政府指出廢除強積金對沖機制會造成的
負面影響。
協會已重申立場，指出取消此安排後，會令勞
工成本上漲，而升幅是業界難以預料的，最後
可能演變為大規模的倒閉潮，尤其對於那些邊
際利潤微薄的中小企零售商而言，極有可能難
以經營下去。
競爭條例
協會及其會員一直承諾採用公平的營商手法，
絕不以任何形式促成反競爭協議。
於2015年12月《競爭條例》實施後，協會制訂
了《競爭法律合規政策》，旨在協助那些擔任
協會委員會、籌委會、工作小組及專責小組的
會員在處理協會工作時遵守《競爭條例》。
協會亦不時通知會員有關《競爭條例》的最新
規定。年內，協會舉辦了講座，向會員提供
《競爭條例》及《競爭條例指引》的最新內
容，尤其與零售業相關的風險及守法工作要
點。協會亦很高興邀請到競爭事務委員會代表
及律師為會員講解相關條例。
Review on Minimum Statutory Wage Rate
The Association has been closely monitoring the impacts of
the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) on the industry since its
implementation in May 2011.
At our meeting with the Minimum Wage Commission (MWC)
in June 2016, we reiterated that the Government should be
mindful about the impacts of the new SMW rate, especially
taking into account the circumstances where the economy was
slowing down. We also stressed the negative impacts of the
SMW rate on retail sector. They included the worsening of staff
recruitment and retention, aggravating manpower shortage
problem, and undermining competitiveness.
On reviewing the SMW rate in 2016, we called for the
Government to consider maintaining the current hourly rate in
view of the current situation which was marked by business
downturn.
Although the SMWC reached consensus to raise the SMW
rate from $32.5 to $34.5 per hour starting from May 2017, the
Association will continue to advise the Government on the SMW
review process.
法定最低工資水平的檢討
自2011年5月實施《法定最低工資》以來，協
會一直密切監察此法例對業界的影響。
協會於2016年6月在最低工資委員會會議上，
已重申政府應注意新的法定最低工資水平對業
界的影響，尤其須考慮經濟放緩時的情況。協
會亦已強調此法定最低工資水平對零售業造成
的不利影響，包括令零售商更難以招聘及挽留
員工，人手短缺的問題更為嚴重，以及削弱零
售商的競爭力。
鑒於目前零售業市況不景，協會已於2016年檢
討法定最低工資水平時，呼籲政府考慮保持現
行的法定最低工資水平不變。
雖然最低工資委員會已達成共識，同意於2017
年5月起將法定最低工資水平由每小時32.5港
元提高至34.5港元，但協會仍會繼續就法定最
低工資的檢討程序向政府出謀獻策。
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Achievements
工作回顧
Achievements
工作回顧
