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| Acting Labatt Tony Villafuerte with Vice Consul David Paje urges caution to jobseekers |
Officers of the Philippine Consulate have warned Filipinos
seeking employment under Hong Kong’s new labor import scheme for low-skilled
workers to be very careful when dealing with agents or people offering such
jobs.
The warning came as a number of employment agencies
and individuals have begun advertising their services for foreign domestic
helpers seeking to work as “office staff, waiter/waitress, bookkeeper, cashier,
dishwasher,” etc.
One promoter said on a video that the jobs are
available at a licensed recruitment agency in Central, while another agency in
Sheung Wan merely promised to help process the job applications, indicating the
jobseekers must look for possible employers themselves.
Commenting on these advertisements, Acting Labor
Attache Tony Villafuerte said Filipinos who wish to be employed under Hong Kong’s
Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS) must first ensure that there is a
job waiting for them.
“The
jobseekers must not pay the recruitment agency for the processing of the
documents because the employers are supposed to do this,” said Villafuerte.
At most, he said that under Hong Kong’s labour laws they
could be charged only 10% of their first monthly salary, which means they should
have already secured the job before paying anything.
Villafuerte said the Labour Department has adopted
strict measures to ensure that local workers are not displaced by those from
overseas, like requiring them to undergo a four-week local recruitment exercise,
which includes advertising the position in local newspapers.
Imported workers must also be paid at least the
prevailing average monthly wages of comparable positions, and could be hired
for no longer than 24 months in each application. Employers must also hire two
fulltime staff for every imported worker, and must pay a levy for them.
Once the application is filed, it is vetted by
first, the Labour Advisory Board and then the government. The employer can proceed with
applying for an employment visa once an approval for hiring the imported worker
is issued.
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| This poster says FDWs can switch jobs under the ESLS but they must look for employers themselves |
While the Hong Kong government says a total of
54,278 workers were allowed in under the ESLS as of March this year, Villafuerte
says MWO records show that only 38 of them were Filipinos.
However, an employee of local company Hong Kong Aero
Services Limited (HAESL) have told The SUN that about 600 Filipinos were hired
by the company recently to work as aircraft mechanic. It appears the hiring was
done directly by the company, including the filing of necessary paperwork with
Immigration.
Villafuerte concedes this could be true, as the
applications to hire foreign workers, including Filipinos, are directly filed
with HK Immigration. It is only when the contracts are approved that they are
forwarded to MWO for verification. And even this is often done only when the
worker needs to go back to the Philippines for a vacation.
