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Employment

Returning non-local graduates may also apply to return to Hong Kong for employment if the job they have secured is at a level normally taken up by degree-holders and remunerated at market rates.

Supplementary Labour Scheme

Under this scheme, employers may apply to the Labour Department to import workers to fill vacancies at technician level or below. The government's policy on labour importation is based on two principles:

• local workers must be given priority in filling job vacancies available in the job market; and

employers who are genuinely unable to recruit local workers to fill their vacancies should be allowed to import workers.

All applications are considered on a case-by-case basis. To ensure priority of employment for local workers, employers must undertake a four-week open recruitment for each application. The department will then pass the application and the department's recommendation to members of the Labour Advisory Board for views and then the Commissioner for Labour for a decision. The requirements of open recruitment are: advertising in newspapers by employers, job-matching by the department and, if appropriate, organising retraining courses for local workers with the assistance of the Employees Retraining Board.

As at December 2015, 4,169 imported workers were working in Hong Kong under the scheme.

Foreign Domestic Helpers

Foreign domestic helpers may be admitted, subject to immigration control, if they have relevant working experience and their employers are Hong Kong residents who will offer the terms of employment stipulated in the government-prescribed standard employment contract. The terms of employment include free and suitable accommodation with reasonable privacy at the employer's residence, free food or food allowance in lieu, wages not lower than the minimum allowable wage set by the government, free passage from and to the helper's place of origin and free medical treatment. Employers must also meet the required levels of income or assets.

As at December 2015, Hong Kong had 340,380 foreign domestic helpers, an increase of 2.9 per cent from 2014. The Philippines and Indonesia respectively accounted for 53.4 per cent and 44.1 per cent of the total number of foreign domestic helpers.

Occupational Safety and Health

The Labour Department continues to improve safety and health standards in the workplace through inspection and enforcement, publicity and promotion, and education and training. Safety and health at work have shown clear signs of improvements in the last decade as a result of the concerted efforts of employers, employees, contractors, safety practitioners and the government.

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