Hong Kong Labour Department sanctions Amala for unjustified refusal to hire locals

閱讀中文版本

This case marks the first instance since the launch of the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme.

Hong Kong's Labour Department (LD) has announced that Amala Limited will be put under an administrative sanction due to the company's violation of local recruitment requirements under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS). This action comes after Amala refused to employ a qualified local job seeker without reasonable grounds.

Starting 31 July 2025, the LD will not process any applications from Amala seeking to import labour under the ESLS for a period of one year. At the same time, the LD has terminated the processing of an application previously submitted by the company.

"The ESLS stipulates that if an employer violates labour or immigration laws, the requirements of the ESLS, or the Standard Employment Contract, the LD will impose an administrative sanction on the employer, including the withdrawal of approval for the importation of labour previously granted and refusal to process any subsequent applications submitted by the employer," an LD spokesperson said.

To alleviate the manpower shortage in various sectors, the HKSAR government has permitted employers carrying out business in Hong Kong with genuine difficulties in recruiting suitable staff locally to apply to import workers at the technician level or below to fill vacancies through ESLS.

According to the scheme's requirements, employers must undertake a four-week local recruitment exercise for each vacancy under application.

To safeguard employment priority for local workers, the LD has implemented a series of enhancement measures, including launching an online complaint form on the ESLS dedicated webpage, to enable local employees and imported workers to lodge complaints against employers for suspected violations of the scheme’s requirements, ensuring that employers will not displace local employees with imported workers.

ALSO READ: Hong Kong launches new measures to safeguard employment priority for local workers under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme

Photo / Amala's website