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Following is a question by Hon Lee Cheuk-yan and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (July 8):
Question:
Regarding the importation of foreign labour, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as the authorities rolled out enhancement measures in April last year to expedite the preparatory work for applications submitted by public work contractors under the Supplementary Labour Scheme involving 26 trades with manpower shortage, of (i) the number of such applications received by the authorities so far and, in respect of each approved application, (ii) the name of the contractor, (iii) the location of the construction site, (iv) the number of foreign workers applied to be imported, and (v) the number of foreign workers approved to be imported (broken down by the 26 trades);
(b) as the authorities introduced measures in April last year allowing private residential care homes for the elderly participating in the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme to apply for importation of foreign labour for their non-bought places, of (i) the number of such applications received by the authorities so far and, in respect of each approved application, (ii) the number of foreign workers applied to be imported, and (iii) the number of foreign workers approved to be imported; whether the authorities will provide the voting records of the Labour Advisory Board in respect of each application;
(c) of the number of persons who were issued employment visas by the authorities under the "General Employment Policy" in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by education level of the applicants as well as the salary group, occupation and industry to which they belonged; and
(d) whether the Immigration Department (ImmD) has, in the course of vetting and approving applications under "the General Employment Policy" and "the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals", demanded the employers to provide information (e.g. copies of the recruitment advertisements and the number of candidates) to prove that they have conducted local recruitment exercises for the relevant posts but could not identify suitable candidates in the exercises; if ImmD has, of the number of times it made such a demand in each of the past three years?
Reply:
President,
The Government operates different schemes whereby employers may apply for importation of workers on account of their actual operational circumstances so as to supplement skills not readily available in the local labour market and to sustain the competitiveness and development needs of Hong Kong. Depending on the skill level and/or education requirement of the jobs concerned, employers may apply to the Immigration Department (ImmD) for admission of professionals or to the Labour Department (LD) for importation of technician workers under the Supplementary Labour Scheme (SLS).
My reply to the question raised by Hon Lee Cheuk-yan is as follows:
(a) The Task Force on Short-term Labour Supply under the Construction Industry Council had identified 26 manpower shortage trades of the construction industry. The Government rolled out enhancement measures in April 2014 to expedite the preparatory works for SLS applications involving the shortage trades as submitted by public works contractors.
Since the implementation of these enhancement measures, LD has received altogether 23 relevant applications submitted by public works contractors as of June 30, 2015. Six applications were approved, with the numbers of imported workers applied for and approved being 485 and 405 respectively.
The numbers of imported workers applied for and approved for these six applications, with a breakdown by the 26 manpower shortage trades, are provided at Annex 1.
Having regard to the principle of confidentiality under SLS, the Government cannot disclose the names of individual applicant contractors or the locations of construction sites concerned.
(b) After taking into account the manpower situation of the elderly care sector, with effect from April 2014, the Government has allowed private residential care homes for the elderly participating in the Social Welfare Department's Enhanced Bought Place Scheme to apply for importation of care workers for their non-subsidised portion. As at June 30, 2015, LD has received a total of 153 applications submitted by these elderly homes under SLS. Altogether 119 applications were approved, with the numbers of imported care workers applied for and approved being 739 and 482 respectively.
In accordance with the established mechanism and vetting criteria under SLS, LD will make recommendations for labour importation applications and invite the Labour Advisory Board (LAB) to provide views for consideration by the Commissioner for Labour (C for L). C for L will thoroughly assess various factors, including the views and justifications provided by LAB members, before approving or refusing the applications as appropriate. The Government does not process SLS applications on the basis of LAB's voting. Having regard to the principle of confidentiality under SLS, the Government cannot disclose the views provided by LAB members for individual applications.
(c) The statistics on applications approved by ImmD for visa/ entry permit for employment under the General Employment Policy (GEP) in the past three years with breakdown by industry/ sector of applicants and by monthly remuneration of applicants are provided at Annex 2 and Annex 3 respectively.
ImmD does not maintain other breakdown statistics mentioned in the question.
(d) At present, ImmD implements two employment-related immigration arrangements, namely GEP for admitting professionals from overseas, Taiwan and Macau, as well as the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals for professionals from the Mainland. The objective of these arrangements is to allow local employers to recruit professionals not readily available in Hong Kong to meet their manpower needs.
Professionals seeking to work in Hong Kong have to meet three main criteria:
(1) having a good education background, normally a first degree in the relevant field;
(2) having a confirmed offer of employment and are employed in a job relevant to their academic qualifications or work experience that cannot be readily taken up by local professionals; and
(3) the remuneration package is broadly commensurate with and not inferior to the local prevailing market level.
In processing applications under the two immigration arrangements above, ImmD will strike an appropriate balance between upholding priority employment of the local workforce as an important policy measure and admitting needed professionals to Hong Kong.
Since industries vary in business needs and require different kinds of professionals, ImmD, in determining whether positions cannot be readily taken up by local employees, requires employers to provide justifications for employing the concerned applicants and to furnish proof on reasons for failing to recruit professionals locally. If ImmD needs further information on the manpower situation of the relevant markets, employers will be required to provide recruitment details and documentary proofs, including recruitment advertisements published, number of local applicants, record of recruitment interviews and results, etc. Besides, ImmD will make reference to the information provided by relevant government departments or professional bodies on individual cases as necessary to ensure that applications are in compliance with the objective of the two immigration arrangements.
ImmD does not maintain the statistics mentioned in the question.
Ends/Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:50
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