https://www.scmp.com/rss/522368/feed The Labour Department is a principal governmental body in Hong Kong, headquartered at Harbour Building, Central. It is dedicated to enhancing the well-being of the workforce and promoting harmonious labour relations. Its main areas of focus include providing comprehensive employment services, ensuring occupational safety and health through legislation and promotion, and safeguarding employees’ rights and benefits. The Department plays a vital role in regulating the labour market, offering... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Lo Hoi-ying Lo Hoi-ying Hong Kong has imported more than 37,000 workers since the government introduced a labour scheme two years ago, while a construction union has announced a wage freeze for most of the major trades in the industry. The Labour and Welfare Bureau on Wednesday revealed that it had received applications to import more than 62,000 workers in the catering and hospitality industries since the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme was launched in 2023. Between September 4, 2023, and September 30 this year,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3329943/37000-workers-imported-hong-kong-start-labour-scheme-2023?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3329943/37000-workers-imported-hong-kong-start-labour-scheme-2023?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 09:32:21 +0000 Lam Ka-sing Lam Ka-sing Nepali-Hongkonger Gurung has been on the job market for four months and feels he is hitting a dead end. He has been in Hong Kong for more than three decades, but this is his worst stretch of being unemployed, the fifty-something said. After losing his construction job in June this year, Gurung, who uses his surname as the name by which his friends address him, found himself competing in a market where he felt increasingly disadvantaged. At his last project at the airport earlier this year, he... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3327292/why-hong-kongs-tightened-imported-labour-rules-still-rankle-local-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3327292/why-hong-kongs-tightened-imported-labour-rules-still-rankle-local-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:30:09 +0000 Fiona Sun Fiona Sun Hong Kong authorities are investigating a fatal industrial accident involving a 45-year-old technician suspected of being electrocuted at a primary school in Sheung Shui. Police were alerted at 10.53am on Friday to the incident at the campus on Wo Muk Road in Fanling. The worker, 45, was believed to have been electrocuted before losing consciousness. He was sent to North District Hospital in Sheung Shui, where he was pronounced dead at around noon, the force said. The Labour Department said it... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3325317/authorities-investigate-fatal-electrocution-worker-hong-kong-primary-school?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3325317/authorities-investigate-fatal-electrocution-worker-hong-kong-primary-school?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Sep 2025 07:26:36 +0000 Ng Kang-chung Ng Kang-chung Hong Kong authorities have banned a restaurant from bringing in staff from outside the city for two years after finding it sacked local employees and used imported workers. On top of the ban, authorities will also cancel the in-principle approval previously granted to the restaurant, which specialises in banquets, to import staff. The restaurant has been hit with the heaviest penalty allowed under existing policy, according to Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han. “We hope to send... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3323682/hong-kong-restaurant-hit-ban-firing-local-staff-after-importing-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3323682/hong-kong-restaurant-hit-ban-firing-local-staff-after-importing-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Aug 2025 11:13:20 +0000 Letters Letters Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification I refer to your front-page report, “Catering, retail hit as jobless rate rises to 33-month high” (August 20), which mentioned the secretary for labour and welfare’s additional requirements that the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3323302/hong-kong-must-cook-labour-solution-revives-its-culinary-reputation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3323302/hong-kong-must-cook-labour-solution-revives-its-culinary-reputation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Aug 2025 03:30:29 +0000 Lo Hoi-ying Lo Hoi-ying Hong Kong authorities have identified another suspected case of an employer dismissing local workers and importing staff, after earlier this month sanctioning a firm that violated labour rules. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Saturday that findings would be announced as soon as an investigation into the case had been completed. “Our initial review shows significant evidence that the employer hired non-local labour but fired a local worker,” he said in a televised... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3322934/1-more-hong-kong-firm-suspected-have-fired-locals-after-importing-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3322934/1-more-hong-kong-firm-suspected-have-fired-locals-after-importing-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2025 13:16:13 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Worker importation schemes help balance the supply of labour with demand. Ideally, they should preserve job opportunities for local workers ahead of imported workers; otherwise, they risk defeating their purpose. Hong Kong’s Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme is an example. The Labour Department has banned a pest control and cleaning company from importing workers for a year after it was found to have failed to offer a job to a suitable local candidate before hiring an imported worker. The... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3321207/employers-must-abide-rules-hong-kongs-labour-import-scheme?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3321207/employers-must-abide-rules-hong-kongs-labour-import-scheme?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Aug 2025 22:45:07 +0000 Danny Mok Danny Mok A worker fell to his death while working on the rooftop of a three-storey Hong Kong village house on Wednesday, taking the number of industrial fatalities in July to 10, according to a concern group. Police said on Wednesday that the 44-year-old cleaning and maintenance worker was carrying out work on top of the house in Tai Lam Chung Tsuen before he fell and lost consciousness at about 3.20pm. Emergency personnel arrived and rushed him to Tuen Mun Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead at... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3320177/hong-kong-worker-dies-after-falling-3-storey-village-house?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3320177/hong-kong-worker-dies-after-falling-3-storey-village-house?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Jul 2025 12:54:41 +0000 Fiona Sun,Leopold Chen Fiona Sun,Leopold Chen Hong Kong authorities have urged workers to take retraining courses to join sectors short of staff as two more restaurants announced their coming closure, with officials saying that halting the importation of labour will not improve the job market. Undersecretary for Labour and Welfare Ho Kai-ming made the call on Saturday after Star Seafood and Roasted Goose Restaurant at Chuk Yuen Plaza in Wong Tai Sin announced that it would shut down next month. “The Labour Department has received workers’... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3319685/50-workers-seek-hk600000-unpaid-wages-another-restaurant-set-close-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3319685/50-workers-seek-hk600000-unpaid-wages-another-restaurant-set-close-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jul 2025 07:34:45 +0000 Ng Kang-chung Ng Kang-chung Hong Kong authorities have temporarily barred a contractor from bidding for public road and drainage contracts following an accident in which a worker was killed by a falling steel beam at a site near the cross-border bridge to Macau and Zhuhai on Thursday. The Development Bureau said on Friday that the temporary ban was effective immediately and it had ordered the contractor to conduct an independent safety audit and submit an improvement action plan. The bureau said it would consider lifting... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3317933/firm-suspended-bidding-hong-kong-contracts-after-worker-killed-site?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3317933/firm-suspended-bidding-hong-kong-contracts-after-worker-killed-site?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Jul 2025 13:39:51 +0000 Joshua Kwok Joshua Kwok Hong Kong’s pension authority is looking into HK$100,000 (US$12,740) in missing payments for 20 employees from the Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant Xin Dau Ji, following the chain’s abrupt closure of its Kowloon Bay branch on Wednesday. The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority said on Friday that it was pursuing the missing contributions for April and May. Lawmaker Aron Kwok Wai-keung confirmed that the restaurant had closed on July 9, with about 20 affected staff contacting the Labour... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3317911/hong-kongs-mpf-authority-seeks-missing-payments-workers-now-closed-chain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3317911/hong-kongs-mpf-authority-seeks-missing-payments-workers-now-closed-chain?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Jul 2025 11:12:08 +0000 Elizabeth Cheung,Vivian Au Elizabeth Cheung,Vivian Au The closure of a 41-year-old Hong Kong bakery chain, known for its “snow skin” mooncakes, has left 211 employees seeking help from labour authorities over HK$32 million (US$4.1 million) in unpaid wages, dismissal compensation and other debts. The Labour Department said on Wednesday that the sum owed by Taipan Bread & Cakes mostly consisted of unpaid wages and dismissal compensation. “We are very concerned about the incident and urge the affected employees to register their information with the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3315729/199-hongkongers-seek-help-after-closure-snow-skin-mooncake-inventor-taipan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3315729/199-hongkongers-seek-help-after-closure-snow-skin-mooncake-inventor-taipan?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Jun 2025 04:00:03 +0000