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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 a strong signal to employers that they have to follow the rules laid down by the government,” Sun said on Friday.
“It is crystal clear that we are adopting a local-workers-first policy.”

The Labour Department announced the “administrative sanction” against Top One Dance Club & Chinese Cuisine in Tsim Sha Tsui on Friday. The two-year ban came into force on Wednesday.
The department said it had earlier received complaints over the company’s dismissal of local staff after employing imported workers under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme.
“After an investigation, the company’s violation of the requirements of the [scheme] has been substantiated and an administrative sanction is thus imposed,” it said.
The restaurant is operated by Top One Dance Club.
The case also marks the second time that the government has announced its sanctions in a high-profile manner after penalising a business for failing to follow the rules of the scheme since it was revised two years ago.
Earlier this month, the department announced that a local pest control company, Alama Limited, had been banned from hiring imported workers for a year. The company was found to have refused to hire locals first before applying to import workers.
Sun declined to say on Friday how many locals Top One Dance Club had fired after it imported workers.
But he said the company had been granted approval to import 15 workers, with 11 already working.
“The workers already imported can continue to work [for Top One]. But if they subsequently leave or no longer work for the employer, the employer will not be allowed to import more workers,” Sun said.

The department said that with effect from Wednesday, the approvals in principle for importing workers granted to the restaurant had been withdrawn, adding that it would not process any such applications for two years.
It stressed that employers were required to give priority to hiring local workers.
The labour scheme was introduced in September 2023 to ease a shortage of semi-skilled workers. It allows employers to apply to import workers for positions such as waiters, junior cooks and telephone operators to fill vacancies for which they have proven difficulties in recruiting suitable staff locally.
Latest available official figures showed that as at the end of March this year, the government received 12,623 applications from employers seeking to import 107,083 workers. During the period, 7,864 applications involving 54,278 imported workers were approved.
Sun said on Friday that the government was reviewing the scheme, including whether a two-year ban was long enough or if other penalties could be imposed.
Under the current policy, employers must undertake a four-week local recruitment exercise for each vacancy under application. The department will also help identify suitable local jobseekers for referral to the employers.
The government recently tightened the rules amid calls by unions to stop importing labourers. Employers can now only apply for imported labour once every six months as part of an attempt to safeguard employment priority for locals.
It also launched an online complaint form on its webpage for jobseekers to report violations.
The department said officers would carry out inspections to check whether companies were complying with the requirement to maintain a 2:1 ratio between local and imported workers.


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Hong Kong restaurant hit with ban for firing local staff after importing workers

Top One Dance Club & Chinese Cuisine in Tsim Sha Tsui was found to have breached the regulations. Photo: Dickson Lee

The restaurant specialises in banquets. Photo: Dickson Lee

Labour chief Chris Sun declined to say how many locals had been fired. Photo: Edmond So

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The Labour Department has said it imposed an “administrative sanction” on Amala Limited and will not process its applications for importing workers for one year. Photo: SCMP

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Hong Kong’s restaurant sector has struggled with staffing issues for years. Photo: Jelly Tse

Lawmaker Tommy Cheung (fourth from right), with other trade representatives at the briefing.  Photo: Lam Ka-sing

The catering trade has been hit hard by a shift in consumer habits. Photo: Jelly Tse

Labour chief defends worker import scheme despite Hongkongers' job loss claims

Official data shows that as of March, 54,278 workers were permitted to enter Hong Kong for 26 new job types, including waiters, junior chefs, and hospitality and sales staff in catering. Photo: Jelly Tse

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun revealed that authorities found preliminary evidence that employers had laid off local workers after hiring imported labourers. Photo: Sun Yeung

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Top One Dance Club & Chinese Cuisine in Tsim Sha Tsui banned for two years from importing workers


Top One Dance Club & Chinese Cuisine in Tsim Sha Tsui banned for two years from importing workers.


Hong Kong restaurant hit with ban for firing local staff after importing workers

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Top One Dance Club & Chinese Cuisine in Tsim Sha Tsui banned for two years from importing workers

Top One Dance Club & Chinese Cuisine in Tsim Sha Tsui banned for two years from importing workers