Labour importation tweak gets mixed reactions

A unionist lawmaker on Wednesday said a tightened labour importation scheme could help locals in the catering business, but a fellow legislator representing the sector said the tweak could affect service at restaurants.

Under a two-tier mechanism that was implemented a day ago, specific positions in the industry – cooks, waiters, bartenders, receptionists and cashiers – face a stricter staffing ratio.

Employers will now be required to maintain a local-to-imported staffing ratio of 3:1 for these tier-two posts, up from the previous 2:1.

Lam Chun-sing, chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions said he welcomed the move, given that the unemployment rate in the sector has hit at least six percent.

“We noticed that in the past, some women liked to work part-time in the catering industry, maybe night-time banquets from 6 to 10pm. But with more imported labour, some of the imported staff could cover the whole shift, and we heard that part-time positions for women were slightly reduced,” he said.

“Therefore, now the staffing ratio has changed from 2:1 to 3:1, restaurants may have to reserve more positions for locals.”

Lam suggested that the two-tier system can be adjusted every six months to cater to the sector's manpower situation.

However, catering sector lawmaker Jonathan Leung pointed out that the sector greatly relies on imported labour, as local recruitment for some positions is almost impossible.

He said the sector is worried that the stricter arrangement will affect service and product quality of some restaurants, or even affect their operations.

Edited by Aaron Tam ...