Recently, there have been a number of problems in Hong Kong's labour market, which have caused both local employers and workers to complain.
First of all, the decoration industry is frequent.
As we all know, hiring a "wall-brushing" master in Hong Kong is not cheap at the end of the day.
Source: Construction Industry Federation of Trade Unions
In such a situation, I will consider finding some non-locals (commonly known as black workers) who are cheap, have no licenses, and do not have work visas to help them.
This kind of black workers generally come to Hong Kong to work as "temporary workers" in the name of tourism.
Even if the neighbours knew, most of them would "turn a blind eye" and would hardly stop it, and the likelihood of reporting it to the Labour Department and the Immigration Department was very low.
However, no one expected that the "black workers" were not only low-key, but even more.
No, on Xiaohongshu, there are multiple IP accounts from Guangdong, claiming to be Shenzhen painters, and they are even more generous to say "take orders to Hong Kong".
Source: Screenshot of Xiaohongshu
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Decoration industry: black work is frequent
One of them claims to be a decoration designer, with 30 years of decoration experience, with the title of "How fragrant is the wall painting master found in Shenzhen", claiming to:
"60% cheaper than looking for a decoration company, and 40% cheaper than finding a local master in Hong Kong"!
According to the user's post, the opening price is 10 yuan per square meter, and if the whole house is redone, it will be about 40 yuan per square meter.
Source: Little Red Book
There is another user who directly solicited with "Shenzhen wall painting master has taken orders to Hong Kong", and bluntly said:
"They (Hong Kong masters) work and relax, and they are not as diligent as us."
There are even videos of users posting their jobs in Hong Kong luxury houses...
It can be said that it does not seem to know that it is against the law!
"According to the laws of Hong Kong, all visitors are prohibited from taking up any employment (whether paid or unpaid), establishing or joining in any business in Hong Kong without the prior approval of the Director of Immigration, and offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for 2 years!
Moreover, not only the black workers will be punished,!
"Any person who employs a person who is not lawfully employed commits an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for 10 years. ”
Source: Sing Tao Headlines
In the first three months of this year, 14 persons (including 13 illegal workers and 1 employer) were arrested in 15 operations codenamed "Promotion" (mainly targeting renovation-related illegal work).
Obviously, the main purpose of the ImmD's crackdown is to protect the local labour market.
However, the problem of black workers in Hong Kong, the continuous occurrence of "foreign domestic helpers turning into black workers", has also caused a headache for employers and the Immigration Department.
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Domestic helper: Turning into a black worker for money
For most Hong Kong families, hiring a foreign domestic helper is actually very cost-effective!
They will take care of the elderly and children at home, and will also cook and clean up, so as to reduce the burden on families in Hong Kong.
Source: HK01
And such a little expert can be invited every month!
"The Hong Kong government announced on September 29 last year that the 'allowable minimum wage' for foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in Hong Kong will be increased by 3% from the current $4,730 per month to $1. ”
Even quite a few of them hold it!
However, the FDH policy is good, but there is a major problem:
"It's so easy for them to break a promise!"
Originally, it was good to sign a contract for 1 year, but within a few months, they were clamoring to resign, and many of them resigned not to return to their hometowns, but to:!
Some even do not sign contracts with their employers, and work in Hong Kong as illegal workers.
Source: Dot News
However, it is not legal for FDHs to engage in other jobs in Hong Kong!
In addition to the fact that the FDWs spontaneously look for illegal work,.
The "snakeheads" will use different methods to find those foreign helpers who have just entered the country and obtained non-permanent residence cards, and then tell them:
"I have a higher-paying job to do dishwashing or whatever. ”
At the same time, these "snakeheads" will also provide accommodation for the black workers, so that many foreign domestic workers who have just arrived in Hong Kong will give up their original legal job of more than 4,000 yuan and take the risk to become a black worker for a salary of 18,000 yuan.
The problem of "foreign domestic workers becoming black workers" has actually been around for a long time.
"Hong Kong's current FDH policy has not been revised for many years, and the current general framework is still the same as in the 70s, with no major changes. ”
Source: Dot News
At present, some social groups have expressed their hope that the Hong Kong Government will set up a Regulatory Authority for Foreign Domestic Helpers to deal with the problem of foreign domestic helpers in a one-stop manner.
"In terms of job jumping, we hope that the 'compensation for early completion of the contract' will be dealt with, and the employer and the FDH will jointly share the travel expenses for returning to their places of origin and the handling fee when entering Hong Kong, so as to reduce the occurrence of job jumping.
In addition, it is recommended that the Employment Contract be revised7. (a) Include explanatory notes in the clause, such as the FDH must produce a valid air ticket that can prove that it belongs to her, and additional conditions such as confirmation that the FDH has returned to her place of origin. ”
The problem of black work here is frequent.
Let's start with the big employer - Hong Kong's catering industry.
In order to cope with the "talent shortage" in Hong Kong's catering industry, which is exploding from floor to kitchen and management, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has set up a "" to allow the import of manpower for waiters, junior chefs and food processing workers.
Source: TVB News
This is the long-awaited nectar for the industry, however.
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Catering & Construction: It's too hard for us!
Because, in this part of Hong Kong, the most difficult thing is to find accommodation, renting a subdivided unit costs thousands of yuan, so only large chain restaurant groups can afford to hire foreign workers first, and it is difficult for small and medium-sized restaurants to hire people.
Therefore, whether you invite locals or outsiders, the cost of the catering industry is not low...
And even if the cost is high, the most important thing for employers to complain about is:!
According to the information provided by the Labour Department:
"Before the launch of the Scheme, i.e. from January 1 to September 3 last year, the number of workers who applied for importation in the catering service industry reached 756, of which 181 had been approved, and the number of applicants soared to 17,438 as at March 31 this year.
However, 1,696 people have been approved, and the progress is very slow..."
Source: Ta Kung Wen Hui
Finally, there is the trouble of the application process, the restaurant owner who wants to enter the foreign worker submits the form, and the procedure is also very troublesome...
"If you ask a foreign worker to work in Mong Kok, you have to go to the district labour office to which Mong Kok belongs to apply for it. ”
Finally, even if foreign workers are invited, local workers have a lot of complaints, the most direct complaints are:
"We're out of work. ”
Source: Internet
To understand the latest employment situation of local construction workers, the "Concern Group on Employment of Local Workers" of the Hong Kong Construction Industry General Union interviewed 1,494 local iron workers from the 12th to the 15th of this month.
"Recently, there has been no or under-started construction. ”
Among them, 28.7% of the respondents said that they only work for 1 to 3 days a week, and.
So, will the importation of foreign workers lead to an increase in Hong Kong's unemployment rate?
According to the latest data released by the Census and Statistics Department:
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Hong Kong increased from 2.9% in December last year to February this year, while the underemployment rate also increased from 1.0% to 1.1%.
Despite a slight increase of 0.1% over the previous three months, Hong Kong's unemployment rate remains at a low level.
来源：CT goodjobs
From this point of view, the import of foreign workers does not seem to have much to do with Hong Kong's unemployment rate, and this "slight increase" is likely to be just a normal adjustment of the economy and the job market.
This way.
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Hong Kong Transport Industry: I'm having a hard time too!
With the approval of the authorities, the first batch of five Citybus members will arrive in Hong Kong and prepare to take a local driving test.
Even though only 20 people were imported, and even though the Hong Kong government has repeatedly stressed that it has carefully and strictly approved and prioritized the protection of local workers, it still arouses strong dissatisfaction from the trade unions.
They believe that although foreign workers are hired by non-franchised buses, everyone.
Some members of the Legislative Council believe that the Hong Kong government is playing "word games".
"At the August meeting last year, but now we are talking to the union that the non-franchised bus is 'not a bus'."
Source: HK01
In addition, the Department has also been very strict in vetting and approval, including that employers will give priority to hiring local drivers, and will only consider granting applications if it is confirmed that sufficient and suitable drivers cannot be hired in Hong Kong.
As for the question on how the Transport Department will deal with the situation once the workers are employed, Tse said she hoped that the trade unions would understand and remain calm, stressing that the import of foreign workers is not to ban local drivers, but to truly alleviate the shortage of manpower.
Therefore, there is still a difficult problem in front of the Hong Kong government:
In addition to cracking down on black workers,?
How do you think this contradiction can be resolved?