To safeguard the employment priority of local workers, the Hong Kong government has implemented new arrangements for the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme starting today (Sept. 10). Employers applying to import waiters and junior cooks must now participate weekly in job fairs held by the Labour Department at designated employment centres during the four-week local recruitment period to conduct on-the-spot interviews with job seekers. These job fairs commence today, with over 25 organizations participating, offering a total of more than 800 job vacancies.
Some members of the catering industry have reported that unscrupulous employers are offering low wages to local employees to deter local job seekers, thereby using the pretext of labour shortages and "inability to hire locals" to employ foreign workers. There are even cases where employers dismiss local staff after hiring foreign labour. Last month, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Chris Sun, announced that employers intending to import waiters and junior cooks under the foreign labour scheme must first conduct on-site recruitment of local employees at designated Labour Department employment centres.
Weekly participation, on-the-spot interviews for job seekers
Starting today, the Labour Department is holding relevant job fairs at its East Kowloon Employment Centre. During the four-week local recruitment period, employers wishing to apply for the importation of waiters and junior cooks under the "Supplementary Labour Optimization Scheme" must participate in the job fair once a week to conduct on-the-spot interviews with job seekers. Otherwise, the Labour Department will reject their application to import labour under the optimization scheme. Relevant details will be displayed on the "Interactive Employment Service Website."
Unions call for improved complaint system and reporting mechanism
Chiu Kwun-chung, head of the Eating Establishment Employees General Union's labour rights committee, told Wen Wei Po that he welcomes the Labour Department's initiative to hold these job fairs, stating, "It at least gives local workers more opportunities to choose."
He noted that some unscrupulous employers, to create the false impression of being "unable to hire locals" and thus apply for imported labour, offer low wages in local recruitment—"for example, a monthly salary of only HK$14,000 for 11 hours of work per day"—and that job requirements often do not match the actual work, aiming to deter local employees.
"The Labour Department's job fairs provide a platform for this purpose." As for whether this will solve the employment issues of local workers, he said it depends on the job content and attractiveness offered by employers.
Chiu believes that, in addition to addressing the job-seeking issues of local workers, it is necessary to further focus on "how to protect local workers from being fired" to safeguard the jobs of local employees. He stated that the union has received numerous complaints from local employees, indicating that some restaurants, after securing sufficient foreign labour, have dismissed local employees under various pretexts. In some cases, local staff were terminated immediately after foreign workers arrived, without providing the statutory notice period or compensation as required. For example, last year, three waiters over the age of 60 were dismissed on the spot and had to go through lengthy processes with the Labour Department and courts to obtain due compensation.
Under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme, the ratio of local employees to imported labour is two to one. Chiu cited cases where employers included managerial staff in the count to inflate the number of local employees, thereby increasing the quota for imported labour. However, once sufficient foreign labour was imported, these employers resorted to underhanded tactics, such as cutting benefits, requiring employees to sign voluntary resignation agreements, or arranging unpaid leave, to force local employees to leave.
"Employees lack awareness of their rights and feel there is no avenue for complaints, so they have no choice but to resign."
In response to these situations, Chiu recommends that the Labour Department improve the complaint mechanism and the penalty system for unfair treatment of local employees to ensure workers' rights are protected.
He also emphasized the need to scrutinize employers' recruitment demands: "Is there really a need for so many imported workers? Will local employees be replaced later?" He called for ensuring the authenticity of employers' recruitment purposes and implementing a reporting mechanism, "similar to cracking down on abuse of public housing, to target employers who abuse the foreign labour import mechanism."
(With input from Wen Wei Po)
Journalist's View | Don't let those disadvantaged harm each other
By Darius
Many people argue that the "encouragement to resign" in the catering industry targeting local employees will impact the employment situation, thereby harming the interests of Hong Kong residents and hindering the development of Hong Kong. However, others contend that imported foreign workers also represent high-quality labor for Hong Kong. Opinions on this matter are diverse and lack consensus, so I prefer not to delve too deeply into this perspective.
In my view, the practice of catering enterprises reducing costs by hiring foreign labor and "encouraging" local employees to resign is essentially a form of cutting corners. This differs from Donald Trump's protectionism; the key issue is not the difference between local and non-local workers but rather the implicit exploitation of labor by the enterprises themselves.
As is well known, Hong Kong's labor costs rank among the highest in the world, with blue-collar workers earning significantly higher wages compared to other regions. Consequently, many people from other areas choose to seek employment in Hong Kong. However, compared to residents, these workers typically have lower wage expectations. Some enterprises, therefore, exploit this gap by intentionally lowering wages (or other benefits) to a level that local workers find unacceptable but that imported foreign labor is still willing to accept, thereby achieving their cost-reduction goals. Whether workers are local or foreign has no bearing on the quality required for these positions.
As a result, local employees who are "encouraged to resign" often feel resentful and direct their anger toward the imported workers who "took their jobs," overlooking the profit-driven behavior of the enterprises. If left unchecked, such practices could eventually lead to a scenario where all server positions in a restaurant are filled by imported workers with lower wage demands. The restaurant might then further reduce costs by lowering wages again and seeking another batch of foreign workers with even lower expectations, while "encouraging" existing employees who cannot accept the pay cuts to leave.
In this context, whether the workers are foreign or not becomes irrelevant. What matters is that such practices force the disadvantaged to harm each other, creating a vicious cycle where employees receive diminishing benefits, while catering enterprises successfully lower their operational costs. Therefore, to prevent this situation from escalating, the government must take action.
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