Government Announces Review Results of Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme and Enhanced Measures to Prioritize Local Employment

Government announces review results of Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme and enhanced measures

The Government announced today (June 15) the review findings and the enhanced measures of the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS) upon completion of the ESLS implementation review.

ESLS

Facing the challenges of an ageing population and economic transformation, the local labour force is expected to continue to shrink, and the structural challenge of a manpower mismatch will persist in the short to medium term. Having holistically examined the implementation of the ESLS and considered the results of the Manpower Projection and views of stakeholders, the Government considers that on the premise of ensuring employment priority for local workers, employers with genuine recruitment difficulties and manpower shortages should be allowed to suitably import workers to support the social and economic development of Hong Kong. Therefore, in the overall interest of society, the ESLS should continue to be implemented under the current coverage.

Enhanced measures

To better protect employment priority for local workers and sustain the manpower supply to support social and economic developments, the Labour Department (LD) will implement the following enhanced measures under the ESLS with effect from tomorrow (June 16):

(i) The Government will implement a tiered vetting mechanism for labour importation after taking account of and analysing relevant factors and data, including the economic and labour market situation, the manpower supply and demand in individual sector(s) and post(s), the application and vetting situations of the ESLS and its operational experience, the proportion of imported workers to the employment population in relevant sectors and the views of stakeholders. Compared with the basic vetting requirements (Tier 1) including the manning ratio of 2:1 of full-time local employees to imported workers and a four-week local recruitment period, applications vetted under Tier 2 shall be subject to more stringent manning ratio and local open recruitment requirements, or other suitable sector-specific requirement(s).

(ii) Taking the latest situation as an example, the LD will include in the Tier 2 vetting mechanism posts in the food and beverage services sector including cook, junior cook, barbecue cook, drink maker and bar supervisor (collectively known as "posts in the production section"), as well as posts including waiter/waitress, restaurant supervisor, receptionist and cashier (collectively known as "posts in the table service section"). Employers will need to observe a more stringent manning ratio requirement of 3:1 when applying for imported workers of relevant posts, and the basis of calculating the manning ratio will change to all posts within the section. At the same time, the local recruitment period for all posts under application in these two sections will be aligned to six weeks and employers will be required to attend a job fair at a job centre assigned by the LD once every two weeks during the period.

(iii) With a view to promoting the employment of persons with disabilities, if employers employ local persons with disabilities to take up full-time jobs and apply for imported workers, the manning ratio of local employees with disabilities to imported workers will be calculated at 1:1.

(iv) Applicant employers of the ESLS must accord priority to employing qualified local workers to fill job vacancies at a salary not lower than the median monthly wage of a comparable position in the market. Employers approved to import workers must also enter into a Standard Employment Contract (SEC) with imported workers and pay a salary not lower than the median monthly wage of a comparable position. To prevent the imported workers from becoming "cheap labour" and undermining the employment opportunities of local workers, the LD will maintain the median monthly wage requirement, and continue to refine the arrangements for updating the median wage statistics to reflect the labour market situations.

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(v) On the premise of maintaining the median wage requirement, the Government will raise the ceiling of the amount deductible for the accommodation cost from 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the wages (excluding overtime pay) of imported workers, or the actual cost of accommodation, whichever is the less.

(vi) On the principle that the imported workers are directly employed by the same employers for taking up the specified posts and performing specified duties in accordance with the SEC, the LD will suitably relax the workplace restriction of imported workers, allowing employers to apply to arrange for imported workers to work at business locations in no more than five administrative districts listed in the District Councils Ordinance. Employers must provide vacancies of relevant posts in those designated districts during local recruitment under the ESLS for application by local job seekers.

(vii) The LD will strengthen administrative sanctions imposed on employers with serious breaches. For a case involving more than one breach item, the period of barring the employer from participating in the ESLS will be counted cumulatively, up to a maximum of five years. To strengthen deterrence, the LD will also publish the identity of all employers who have been subject to administrative sanctions.

Implementation arrangements

Except for measure (iv) which remains the same as the current arrangement, measures (i), (ii), (iii), (vi) and (vii) above will apply to applications with the notice of preliminary screening issued by the LD on or after June16; while applications with the previously issued notice of preliminary screening will continue to be processed according to the current vetting parameters. Measure (v) will apply to the signed SECs pursuant to the approvals-in-principle (AIPs) to import workers issued by the LD on or after June 16. Previously issued AIPs and existing employment contracts will not be affected.

The Government will continue to closely monitor the developments in the labour market, dynamically adjust the implementation arrangements of the ESLS and promptly respond to changes in labour market. Members of the public can browse the website of the ESLS (www.labour.gov.hk/eng/plan/iwESLS.htm) for details of the above enhanced measures.

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Employers, contractors and employees should be aware of electrical safety at work during rainstorms

As the rainstorm warning has been issued by the Hong Kong Observatory, the Labour Department (LD) reminds employers and contractors that they should adopt necessary work arrangements and take suitable safety measures to protect the safety of their employees when they are carrying out electrical work or handling electrical plant.

A spokesman for the LD said today (June 18) that employers and contractors should avoid assigning employees to carry out electrical work (such as electric arc welding work) or handle electrical plant at places affected by rainstorms, and should refer to the "Code of Practice in Times of Adverse Weather and 'Extreme Conditions'" and the "Guide on Safety at Work in times of Inclement Weather" issued by the LD.

Even if electrical work is carried out or electrical plant is handled at places not affected by a rainstorm, suitable safety measures must still be adopted to prevent an electric shock as the air would be more humid. Such measures include:

(i) Ensure that all live parts of an electrical installation are isolated from the power supply source and rendered dead, and the isolation from the power supply source must be maintained as long as electrical work is being carried out;

(ii) Before carrying out any electrical work or handling any electrical plant, cut off and lock out the power supply source, then test the circuit concerned to confirm that it is dead and display suitable warning notices, and issue a work permit thereafter;

(iii) Ensure that protective devices (such as suitable and adequate fuses and circuit breakers) for the electrical installations or electrical plant have been installed and maintained in good working order, and portable electric tools must be double-insulated or properly earthed;

(iv) Provide suitable personal protective equipment such as insulating gloves and insulating mats for employees; and

(v) If live electrical work is unavoidable, a comprehensive risk assessment should be conducted by a competent person and the appropriate safety precautions should be taken to remove or properly control the electrical hazards involved before such work can proceed.

In addition, employees should co-operate with the employer or contractor to follow the safety instructions and use the safety equipment provided.

The LD has published guidebooks and leaflets on electrical work safety. These safety publications are available free from divisional offices of the department or can be downloaded from its website (www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/content2_8.htm).

Should there be any questions about occupational safety and health matters, please contact the Occupational Safety Officer of the LD at 2559 2297.

Source: AI-found images