Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - China - Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Ratification: 1997)

Articles 3(1) and (2) and 17 of the Convention. Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. In reply to the Committee’s previous comment, the Government reiterates that the principal duties of labour inspectors of the Labour Department are to protect the rights of workers. The government indicates that the role of labour inspectors is limited to provide intelligence information coming to their notice during workplace inspections, with the objective of securing convictions against law-defying employers. The Government also indicates that labour inspectors do not have the power of arrest or to verify the regular or irregular status of the worker. In this regard, the Government notes that the Hong Kong Police Force and the Immigration Department launch the great bulk of operations to crack down on illegal employment activities on their own and that the participation of the labour inspectors in joint operations is incidental and does not jeopardize the authority and impartiality of the labour inspectors. It also indicates that the participation of labour inspectors in the joint operations between 2015 to 2017 was limited to 650 cases compared to the 446,242 inspection visits undertaken over the same period.

The Committee recalls that the involvement of inspection staff in joint operations with the police is not conducive to the relationship of trust that is essential to enlisting the cooperation of employers and workers. Workers in a vulnerable situation may not be willing to cooperate with the labour inspection services if they fear negative consequences as a result of inspection activities, such as being fined, losing their job or being expelled from the country.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that foreign workers in an irregular situation have access to the court to pursue their claims, including payment of wages and compensation for injuries at work, as other workers. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that these claims by foreign workers are uncommon and there are no statistics on the number of cases in which foreign workers in an irregular situation have been granted their due rights.While noting that the primary responsibility to verify the regular status of a foreign worker lies with other government departments, the Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the role of labour inspectors in the provision of intelligence information to other Government agencies regarding workers in an irregular situation. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on specific measures undertaken by the labour inspectors to ensure the enforcement of the rights of migrant workers found to be in an irregular situation. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to collect and provide information on (i) the number of cases in which foreign workers in an irregular situation have had their cases submitted to the courts, and (ii) the outcome of judicial proceedings resulting from investigations initiated following actions taken by labour inspectors (including any cases where workers have been paid outstanding wages and other benefits, etc.).