Occupational Retirement Schemes (Consultative Committees) Rules
(Enacting provision omitted—E.R. 6 of 2019)
[15 October 1993] L.N. 407 of 1993
(Format changes—E.R. 6 of 2019)
(Omitted as spent—E.R. 6 of 2019)
In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires—
inauguration meeting (創會會議) means the meeting at which a consultative committee is constituted and its first members are elected by the members of a retirement scheme; proposing members (提出建議的成員) means the members of a retirement scheme who propose to constitute a consultative committee.All notices to be issued under these Rules shall be considered to be properly given if they are sent by post to—
in the case of a scheme member, his last known residential address; and
in other cases, the last known correspondence address of the addressee.
The designated person of a registered scheme shall furnish the names and addresses of scheme members to any scheme member requesting them for the purpose of issuing the notices under these Rules.
10 or more scheme members may propose to constitute a consultative committee by sending to every scheme member a notice in writing expressing such a proposal together with a consent form, in Form 1 in the Schedule, for the member’s signature.
Members consenting to the constitution shall, within 21 days of the issue of the notice, return to one of the proposing members a signed consent form.
The consent of the majority of the scheme members is required for the constitution of the consultative committee.
The proposing members shall, not more than 28 days after sending the notices under subsection (1), supply the designated person with the signed consent forms that were returned within the required time under subsection (2), and the designated person shall ensure that the consent forms are available for inspection at the inauguration meeting by any scheme member who wishes to do so.
On being satisfied that consent forms were returned from the majority of scheme members within the required time, the designated person shall give not less than 14 days’ notice to the scheme members, the administrator and the relevant employer of the place, date and time at which the inauguration meeting will take place, and the notice shall include—
a proxy form, in Form 2 in the Schedule, which form shall be signed and returned to one of the proposing members not less than 3 days before the date of the meeting by a member who wishes to vote by proxy; and
a nomination form for nominating a member for election to the consultative committee, in Form 3 in the Schedule, which form shall be—
completed by a member wishing to make a nomination; and
sent to the designated person so that it is received by the designated person not less than 3 days before the date of the meeting.
A scheme member may cancel a proxy by attending and voting in person at the inauguration meeting.
The quorum for the inauguration meeting shall be 5 scheme members attending the meeting in person.
A consultative committee shall consist of the number of members specified in the resolution constituting the committee but shall be not less than 5 nor more than 20, and the number shall not exceed 25% of the membership of the scheme, as determined at the date of the meeting at which members of the consultative committee are to be elected.
The designated person shall be chairman of the inauguration meeting.
Scheme members may elect from among themselves members of the consultative committee at the inauguration meeting and then at each annual meeting of scheme members.
Nomination of any scheme member for candidature as a committee member shall be made in advance of the meeting in accordance with section 4(5)(b) or 6(4)(b), as the case may be.
Election of committee members shall be by secret ballot.
Ballot forms, in Form 4 in the Schedule, shall be issued to members present in person or by proxy—
in the case of the inauguration meeting, by the designated person; and
at subsequent annual meetings of scheme members, by the secretary of the consultative committee or other committee member appointed by the consultative committee for the purpose of election or voting work.
A ballot form that has been signed by the voter is invalid.
Scrutineers shall be elected at the meeting concerned from among the voting members to collect the ballot forms and count and check the votes.
A consultative committee member shall cease to be a member if he—
ceases to be a member of the registered scheme;
becomes incapacitated by physical or mental illness;
absents himself from 3 or more consultative committee meetings without the consent of the committee;
resigns his office by notice in writing delivered to the secretary of the consultative committee.
Subject to subsection (7), consultative committee members hold office until the conclusion of the next annual meeting.
The consultative committee may, if considered necessary, appoint a member to fill the vacancy for the remaining tenure of the office.
The committee members shall elect among themselves a member to act as the chairman and a member to act as the secretary.
The consultative committee shall, as soon as reasonably practicable after its constitution, notify in writing the administrator and the relevant employer of the scheme of its constitution.
The consultative committee shall arrange for an annual meeting of the scheme members to be held annually not more than 6 months after the close of the scheme’s financial year for the purposes of electing a new consultative committee.
Where a consultative committee fails to arrange a meeting as required under subsection (1), it is dissolved at the end of the 6 month period referred to in that subsection, but nothing in this subsection prevents scheme members from constituting a new consultative committee under section 4.
Notice in writing of the annual meeting shall be given by the secretary to every member of the scheme not less than 14 days before the date of the meeting specifying the place, date and time of the meeting, the intention of electing the members of the consultative committee for the forthcoming year and, where applicable, the intention of varying the number of members of the consultative committee.
The notice shall include—
a proxy form, in Form 2 in the Schedule, which form shall be signed and returned to the secretary not less than 3 days before the date of the meeting by a member who wishes to vote by proxy; and
a nomination form for nominating a member for election to the consultative committee, in Form 3 in the Schedule, which form shall be—
completed by a member wishing to make a nomination; and
sent to the secretary so that it is received by the secretary not less than 3 days before the date of the meeting.
A scheme member may cancel a proxy by attending and voting in person at the annual meeting.
The quorum for the annual meeting shall be 5 scheme members attending the meeting in person.
A resolution may be passed at the annual meeting changing the number of members of the consultative committee but section 4(8) applies to that resolution.
A member of the consultative committee may stand for re-election at an annual meeting.
Meetings of the consultative committee may be held at such times as the chairman determines to discuss matters of general interest as regards the scheme.
The secretary shall send a notice to all committee members, the relevant employer, the administrator and the designated person of the scheme not less than 14 days before the date of each meeting of the consultative committee specifying the place, date and time of the meeting and the matters to be discussed.
The quorum for a consultative committee meeting shall be 50% of the committee members.
If a quorum is not present at a consultative committee meeting, the meeting shall be adjourned to the same day the following week.
If a quorum is not present at the adjourned meeting, 3 committee members present in person shall constitute a quorum.
If the chairman or the secretary is not present at a committee meeting, the committee members present may elect among themselves a member to act as chairman or secretary.
At a meeting of the consultative committee—
each member present has one vote on a question before the committee;
all decisions of the meeting are valid if they are made by a majority of votes of such members present; and
if the votes of the committee members are equal, the chairman has a casting vote.
The secretary shall keep minutes of the meeting at every meeting of a consultative committee and, subject to any corrections, the minutes of a meeting shall be confirmed as a correct record of the proceedings of the meeting by the chairman at the next meeting of the committee.
The consultative committee shall put up a notice at the place of work informing all scheme members of any advice as regards the scheme which has been given to the administrator by the committee.
Not less than 10% of the scheme members may, in writing, jointly request the consultative committee to convene an extraordinary meeting of scheme members for the purpose of considering whether or not to dissolve the consultative committee.
On receipt of such a request, the chairman or the secretary of the consultative committee shall—
inform in writing the administrator, the designated person and the relevant employer of the scheme of the fact and of the date of receipt of the request; and
arrange for a meeting of all scheme members to be held within 1 month from the date of the receipt of the request.
Notice of the extraordinary meeting shall be given to all scheme members in writing not less than 14 days before the date of the meeting and shall specify the place, date and time of the meeting and the intention of passing a resolution to dissolve the consultative committee.
The notice given under subsection (3) shall include a proxy form, in Form 2 in the Schedule, which form shall be signed and returned to the chairman or secretary not less than 3 days before the date of the meeting by a member who wishes to vote by proxy.
A scheme member may cancel a proxy by attending and voting in person at the meeting.
The quorum for the meeting shall be 5 scheme members attending the meeting in person.
A resolution to dissolve a consultative committee requires a majority of all the scheme members voting in person or by proxy in favour of the resolution.
Where a resolution to dissolve the consultative committee is passed, the chairman of the consultative committee shall immediately inform the designated person, the administrator and the relevant employer of the scheme in writing of the fact and of the effective date of the dissolution.
| Name of scheme: | ||
| I, the undersigned, being a member of the above scheme, hereby support the proposing members’ proposal in their notice of . | ||
| (date) | ||
| to constitute a consultative committee in respect of the scheme under section 34 of the Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 426). | ||
| Signature: | ||
| Name: | ||
| (in block letters) | ||
| Hong Kong Identity Card No.: | ||
| Date: | ||
_
| Name of scheme: | ||
| I, ., Hong Kong Identity Card No. ., | ||
| (name of member) | ||
| being a member of the above scheme, hereby appoint ., | ||
| (name of proxy) | ||
| Hong Kong Identity Card No. ., as my proxy to vote on my behalf at the *inauguration meeting/annual meeting/extraordinary meeting of the scheme to be held on the . day of . 19 . and at any adjournment thereof. | ||
| 2. Where the proxy is to be used at an extraordinary meeting, I hereby instruct my proxy to vote *in favour of/against the resolution to dissolve the consultative committee. | ||
| Date: | Signed: | |
| *Delete whichever is inapplicable. | ||
| NOTE: | If you do not complete paragraph 2 by deleting whichever is inapplicable, the proxy will vote as he thinks fit at an extraordinary meeting. | |
_
| PART I—NOMINATION FORM | |||||
| Name of scheme: | |||||
| We, the undersigned, nominate | |||||
| (name-surname/first name) | |||||
| as a candidate for election as a member of the consultative committee at the *inauguration meeting/annual meeting to be held on the . day of . 19 . | |||||
| Nominator | Seconder | ||||
| (1) | NOMINATOR | ||||
| Name: | |||||
| (in block letters) | |||||
| Hong Kong Identity Card No.: | |||||
| Date: | |||||
| (2) | SECONDER | ||||
| Name: | |||||
| (in block letters) | |||||
| Hong Kong Identity Card No.: | |||||
| Date: | |||||
| * Delete whichever is inapplicable. | |||||
| PART II—CANDIDATE’S CONSENT TO NOMINATION | |||||
| I, ., | |||||
| (name of nominee (in block letters)) | |||||
| Hong Kong Identity Card No. ., hereby consent to my nomination as a candidate for election as a member of the consultative committee at the meeting mentioned in Part I above. | |||||
| I hereby declare that I am a member of the above scheme. | |||||
| Signature of Nominee: | |||||
| Date: | |||||
_
| Name of scheme: | ||||||
| Number of candidates to be elected: | ||||||
| Name of candidate | ||||||
| Date: | ||||||
| NOTE: | 1. | Please tick the box opposite the name of the candidate you wish to elect. | ||||
| 2. | A ballot will be invalid if you put your name on it or sign it. | |||||
| 3. | A ballot will be invalid if more boxes have a tick in them than the number of candidates to be elected. | |||||