Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

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. The Committee notes from the report of the Labour Department for 2024 that labour inspectors collaborated with the Police and the Immigration Department to combat illegal employment activities. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication in its report that if labours inspectors receive intelligence of suspected illegal employment activities or discover relevant circumstances, they collect evidence and refer the case to the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) or the Immigration Department (ImmD) of the HKSAR Government for follow-up action. The Government indicates that it is committed to safeguarding the rights of all employees, and that foreign workers in an irregular situation have equal access to the court to pursue claims, including relating to the payment of wages and other employment benefits, as well as compensations for injuries at work. According to the Government’s report, claims arising out of foreign workers for outstanding wages and other benefits are uncommon, and the relevant government departments or authorities do not keep statistics in this regard.

The Committee recalls that the function of verifying the legality of employment should have as its corollary the reinstatement of the statutory rights of all the workers if it is to be compatible with the objective of labour inspection, which is to protect the rights and interests of all workers and to improve their working conditions (2006 General Survey on labour inspection, paragraph 78). In this respect, the Committee also recalls that 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 (see 2017 General Survey on instruments concerning occupational safety and health, paragraph 452). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that the functions assigned to labour inspectors with regard to irregular work do not interfere with the main objective of labour inspectors to ensure the protection of workers in accordance with labour inspectors’ primary duties as set forth in Article 3(1) of the Convention.

Articles 20 and 21. Publication and communication of annual labour inspection reports on the work of the labour inspection services. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Labour Department publishes and transmits to the ILO an annual report on the work and statistics of the department including its inspectorates. The Committee notes that the last annual report contains all the information required by Article 21 of the Convention. The Committee takes note of this information which addresses its previous request.