Call hotline to report employers suspected of replacing local staff with imported workers
The Hong Kong government has urged people to call a hotline if they suspect employers are replacing local employees with imported workers amid ongoing complaints about the city's non-local labour schemes.
According to local media reports, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said on Thursday that unions and workers should report to the hotline 2150 6363 if they suspected employers had laid off local staff to hire imported workers.
He added that the hotline was set up specifically to receive reports related to imported labour.
However, upon checking by HKFP, the number is listed as the general enquiry line for the imported labour schemes. HKFP has contacted the Labour Department for comment.
'When rolling out the imported labour schemes, we have clearly stated that if employers violate relevant regulations, administrative sanctions, such as withdrawal of the imported worker quota, will be imposed, ' Sun said in Cantonese.
According to regulations of the imported labour schemes, employers who apply to hire one imported worker should have hired at least two residents.
He added that authorities would also conduct inspections and random checks to ensure that employers meet the 'two-to-one requirement.'
Sun's remarks come amid rising unemployment in the city and ongoing complaints about non-local workers replacing local staff after the government relaxed rules on hiring non-local labour.
Complaints from local workers
Hong Kong expanded a series of imported labour schemes two years ago, citing a labour shortage.
In June 2023, the government increased the quota for non-local workers in the construction and transport industries and residential care homes. In September 2023, it launched the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS), which permits non-local hires without quota limits.
The ESLS, which is set to end in September this year, allows Hong Kong employers to import workers for 26 types of jobs that were previously only open to local residents, such as cashiers, hair stylists, sales assistants, and waiters.
As of the end of March, the city had imported more than 54,000 non-local workers under the ESLS. Among them, more than 8,900 non-locals worked as waiters – the most popular job taken up by imported workers – followed by junior cooks, according to the Labour and Welfare Bureau.
Meanwhile, more than 10,970 non-local workers were granted permits to work in Hong Kong's construction sector from September 2023 to March this year, according to the government's response to lawmaker Stanley Ng.
The Eating Establishment Employees General Union said in April that over 200 employees reported being fired and replaced by non-local workers employed through the ESLS.
Over 80 per cent of construction workers reported that their jobs had been 'affected' by the non-local labour scheme, according to a survey published by the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union in October last year.
Last month, Sun defended the schemes. At that time, he suggested that local workers and unions file a report with the Labour Department should they suspect an employer 'has replaced local employees with imported workers.'
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