LCQ6: Improving the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme
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Question:
At present, the approval granted to employers for labour importation under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme will not be automatically renewed. If an employer still needs the continued employment of the imported workers concerned upon the expiry of their contracts, the employer is required to submit to the Labour Department a renewal application around eight to nine months before the expiry of their employment contracts. Some people from industries such as cleaning and security services have reflected that property management companies or property owners generally conduct a fresh tender exercise for such services only two to three months before the expiry of the relevant service contracts and decide which service provider to engage only one month before the commencement of the new contract period. If the company concerned fails to secure the renewal of the contract, its renewal applications for its imported workers may eventually have to be cancelled. In addition, some industries have reflected that the restrictions imposed by the authorities on the workplace of imported workers have affected employers' flexibility in deploying manpower. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will take into account the actual operational circumstances of industries such as cleaning and security services and relax the restrictions on renewal applications for imported workers as well as shorten the time required for processing such applications; whether it will allow imported workers whose renewal applications have been approved to apply for a change of the workplace specified in the contract one month in advance;
(2) given the view that the Government's outsourced service contracts (such as those for cleaning and security services) do not allow contractors to apply for labour importation, thus making it difficult for contractors to fill job vacancies, whether the authorities will review the relevant policy; if so, of the review progress;
(3) as it is learnt that the authorities' restriction on the number of workplaces for imported workers to no more than three has constrained the manpower deployment flexibility of employers with multiple operating premises, such as chain stores, whether the authorities will relax the relevant restriction; and
(4) in view of the authorities' reply on July 10, 2024, to my question that they would not consider changing the requirement that the wages of imported workers must not be lower than the median monthly wage (the median wage) for comparable positions in Hong Kong and had no plan to change the arrangement of requiring employers to pay the Employees Retraining Levy (ERL) totalling $9,600 for each worker for every two-year period of his contract despite the view of some industry members that the aforesaid levy, coupled with accommodation expenses and other related expenses, has substantially increased the operating costs of enterprises, whether the authorities will consider reviewing afresh the median wage requirement and abolishing the requirement to pay the ERL, so as to reduce the operating costs of enterprises in Hong Kong and enhance their competitiveness?
Reply:
President,
To cope with the challenges brought by manpower shortage and foster Hong Kong's economic development, the Government, on the principle of ensuring employment priority for local workers, suitably allows employers with genuine difficulty in recruiting suitable local workers to apply for importation of workers. Apart from launching sector-specific labour importation schemes for the construction sector, transport sector, and residential care homes for the elderly and residential care homes for persons with disabilities, the Labour Department (LD) has implemented the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS) since September 4, 2023 to allow employers with genuine needs to apply for importation of workers for posts that were generally excluded under the previous Supplementary Labour Scheme.
In consultation with the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau, the reply to the Member's question is as follows:
(1) Under the ESLS, employers wishing to continue employing imported workers upon the expiry of their employment contracts are required to submit applications afresh to the LD (renewal applications). Employers submitting renewal applications have to fulfil the same requirements as those for new applications, which include undertaking local recruitment and according priority to employing suitable local job seekers, as well as meeting the relevant manning ratio requirements of local workers to imported workers etc, so as to assess the employers' needs for continuing to employ imported workers and safeguard the employment priority for local workers. After an employer has completed the local recruitment, the LD will analyse each application and invite members of the Labour Advisory Board to give views. The Commissioner for Labour will thoroughly assess various factors and determine whether to approve or refuse the relevant application for importation of labour.
To ensure that employers can complete the abovementioned application and relevant renewal procedures, and apply for the visas/ entry permits with the Immigration Department before the expiry of employment contracts of serving imported workers, the LD suggests employers to submit renewal applications around eight to nine months before the expiry of employment contracts of imported workers. Employers may determine the suitable timing for submitting renewal applications taking into account the situations of their business and employment contracts of imported workers, etc. While the LD will promptly process the applications, the actual time required depends on whether the employers have provided sufficient information, whether details of the renewal applications are the same as the previously approved applications, whether employers have made changes to the application information during processing, etc.
As required by the ESLS, imported workers must work at the designated workplace(s) as stipulated in employment contracts and change of the workplace(s) is generally not permitted. If there are business circumstances necessitating a change of the workplace(s) of imported workers, employers may apply to the LD and state the relevant justifications. The LD will consider exercising discretion and handle the applications on their own merits.
(2) According to the 2025 Annual Earnings and Hours Survey published by the Census and Statistics Department, there were about 190 000 workers in the "Estate management, security and cleaning services" industry covering the group of elementary occupations and service workers. As at February this year, there were around 5 000 imported cleaners and security guards working in Hong Kong under the ESLS.
The remuneration for non-skilled workers under government outsourced service contracts is different from that under the ESLS on various fronts, including government service contractors are required to pay non-skilled workers at a rate not lower than the "committed wage" as stipulated in service contracts, while as required under the ESLS, imported workers are paid not lower than the median monthly wages of comparable positions taken up by local workers. Besides, different requirements on other employment terms are in place under government outsourced service contracts (such as the provision of gratuity and wage arrangement for working when the typhoon signal no. 8 or above is hoisted, etc).
In considering whether to allow labour importation under government outsourced service contracts, the Government needs to keep abreast of the demand and supply of the relevant non-skilled workers in the local labour market (including the situation of labour importation) and explore relevant implementation arrangements of labour importation after ascertaining the subsistence of labour shortages and under the principle of ensuring employment priority for local workers. The arrangements include addressing the discrepancy between the "committed wage" to be provided by contractors under service contracts and the wages of imported workers, as well as co-ordinating the monitoring mechanisms across different regimes, so as to ensure effective use of public money and proper monitoring of service contractors.
(3) and (4) The main thrust of the Government's manpower policy all along is to uphold the priority for local employment and nurture local talents. All employers employing imported workers through labour importation schemes specified in the Employees Retraining Ordinance (Cap. 423) are required to pay a levy. Such levy is transferred to the Employees Retraining Fund administered by the Employees Retraining Board for providing training and retraining to local workers and forms an integral part of the labour importation policy. Scrapping the levy arrangement is not in line with the policy objective of launching labour importation schemes on the premise of ensuring employment priority for local workers.
To ensure the employment priority for local workers, applicant employers of the ESLS must undertake local open recruitment and 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. In parallel, employers approved to import workers are required to sign a Standard Employment Contract (SEC) with imported workers and shall pay a salary not lower than the median monthly wage of a comparable position to avoid undermining the employment opportunities of local workers by imported workers.
Upon approval to work in Hong Kong under the ESLS, imported workers must be directly employed by the same employers and shall only work in the positions and carry out job duties at the designated workplace(s) as required by the approvals-in-principle issued by the LD and the SEC. The LD has since May 2024 relaxed the workplace requirement, allowing employers to apply, during the preliminary screening, to arrange for imported workers to work at no more than three designated locations. This enables employers to deploy manpower more flexibly, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and flexibility.
The LD is reviewing the ESLS, including its coverage, operation and implementation arrangements, measures to promote and ensure employment priority for local workers, as well as measures to protect the rights and benefits of imported workers. The review is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2026. The Government will take full account of and balance the views of stakeholders during the review.
Ends/Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:30
Issued at HKT 11:30
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