Approval for second round of application under Labour Importation Scheme for Transport Sector - Aviation Industry completed
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The application period for the second round of application under the Scheme was from March 13 to 26. A total of 27 companies eligible for quota application (eligible companies) submitted applications within the period, involving 3 035 labour importation quotas covering all 10 job types under the Scheme. After assessment by an interdepartmental liaison group comprising representatives from the TLB, the Labour Department and the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), the Permanent Secretary for Transport and Logistics approved the applications from 27 companies involving a total of 2 982 quotas. Among the applications, a few were not approved in full as they failed to meet one of the following basic requirements of the Scheme:
i. The job for which quotas are applied must fall into one of the 10 specified job types under the Scheme;
ii. The number of quotas applied for must be within the limit under the manning ratio requirement of full-time local staff and imported labour; and
iii. An applicant must have conducted local recruitment for the jobs for which quotas are applied.
The results with a breakdown by job type of the second round of application are in the Annex.
In addition, when rolling out the Scheme, the Government announced that the AAHK would co-ordinate the funds contributed by the employers and the AAHK for each imported worker to subsidise the transport fares of local frontline airport staff. The TLB and the AAHK have consulted the stakeholder consultative group under the Scheme on the design of the transport subsidy, and had the support of both the employer and labour representatives. The AAHK will implement the transport subsidy starting from May this year, with a monthly budget of about $5 million. Eligible recipients of the transport subsidy must be local airport frontline staff employed by eligible companies and engage in the 10 job types for which labour importation is allowed under the Scheme. The fares of public transportation incurred by the relevant staff for commuting to and from the airport for work paid by a designated Octopus Card (eligible public transport expenses) are covered for the calculation of the subsidy. If an eligible employee's eligible public transport expenses for a certain month exceed $400, the eligible employee will receive a subsidy in an amount of one-third of the expenses in excess of $400, subject to a ceiling of $400 per month. Where the calculated amount of subsidy is less than $100 for that month, a minimum subsidy of $100 will be disbursed. Details can be found on the AAHK's dedicated webpage (opsportal.hongkongairport.com/SitePages/10%20-%20AOFP/EN/TransportSubsidyScheme.aspx).
The TLB and the AAHK will continue to engage in regular meetings with the stakeholder consultative group to listen to the views of stakeholders on the Scheme, including meeting with the representatives of labour unions of the consultative group this morning on the approval results and details of the transport subsidy. The TLB and the AAHK will continue to enhance information dissemination through the consultative group in order to facilitate the smooth implementation and execution of the Scheme.
The TLB will announce the details of the third round of application under the Scheme in due course.
Premised on safeguarding the employment of local labour, the Scheme was introduced in July last year to allow the aviation industry to suitably import labour with a view to relieving the acute manpower shortage and supporting the continual recovery of Hong Kong's aviation industry. A total of 2 841 quotas were approved in August last year under the first round of the Scheme. So far, more than 1 300 imported workers have arrived to work in Hong Kong.
Ends/Thursday, April 11, 2024
Issued at HKT 17:20
Issued at HKT 17:20
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