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Following is an oral reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, to a question by the Hon Selina Chow on levy on foreign domestic helpers in the Legislative Council today (July 11):
Question:
With effect from October 2003, employers of foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") in Hong Kong have to pay the Employees Retraining Levy (commonly known as "levy on FDHs") of $400 per month to the Government for the purpose of providing training and retraining to local employees. Subsequently, in view of the application for judicial review against the imposition of the levy lodged by some FDHs, the levy collected has not been utilised so far. However, the FDHs concerned have all along not lodged any appeal with the Court of Final Appeal after the dismissal of their case by the Court of Appeal in July last year, and the time limit for lodging appeals has already expired. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the situation of the collection of the above levy since October 2003 and the amount accumulated so far;
(b) why it has so far not utilised the levy collected, as well as when and how it intends to utilise that amount of money; and
(c) whether it has assessed if the amount of levy accumulated so far is sufficient to meet the needs for providing training and retraining to local employees for a certain period of time in the future; if the assessment results are in the affirmative, whether it has plans to reduce or even abolish the levy on FDHs, so as to ease the burden on employers of FDHs?
Reply:
Madam President,
It is the established policy of the Government that employers hiring low-skilled imported labour should contribute towards the training and retraining of the local workforce. In line with this policy, all employers of imported labour under the labour importation schemes designated under the Employees Retraining Ordinance ("schemes") have since the commencement of the Ordinance in 1992 been required to pay the Employees Retraining Levy ("levy"). The levy goes to the Employees Retraining Fund, which is administered by the Employees Retraining Board ("ERB"), for providing training and retraining to local workers. In February 2003, the Executive Council approved the recommendation of the report of the Task Force on Population Policy that same as employers of imported labour under other schemes, employers of foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") should also be required to pay the Employees Retraining Levy with effect from October 1 of that year.
My replies to the Hon Selina Chow's specific questions are as follows: –
(a) From October 1, 2003 to June 30, 2007, the levy collected from employers of FDHs amounted to $3.26 billion.
(b) The report released earlier by the Commission on Poverty has recommended the Government to review holistically and further enhance its training and retraining efforts, and to make the best use of the resources available, including the levy collected from employers of FDHs, to provide the needy with targeted training and employment assistance. The Labour and Welfare Bureau will actively follow up on the recommendations of the Commission on Poverty in concert with other relevant departments and organisations. We will explore how to provide quality and effective "one-stop shop" training and employment services, and encourage those with abilities to work to move from "welfare to self-reliance". Moreover, the ERB is conducting a strategic review on its current operation and scope of services as well as its future role and responsibilities. The review will also cover the use of the levy. The Government will carefully consider the recommendations of the Commission on Poverty and the outcome of the review, and discuss with the ERB when and how the levy collected from employers of FDHs should be used.
(c) To maintain its economic vibrancy and competitiveness, Hong Kong must possess quality human resources. While the economic situation has improved in recent years, we still face problems of economic restructuring and manpower mismatch. The Government needs to ensure that the local workforce receives suitable training and retraining in order to enhance their employability and equip them to rise to the challenges arising from a knowledge-based economy. The Government therefore considers that there is a need to maintain the existing arrangement of collecting the levy from employers of FDHs, and that it would not be appropriate to reduce the levy amount. This will help ensure the stable and sustainable development of our training and retraining services.
Ends/Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:57
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