One employer handed the Labour Department recruitment results that weren't true
Two Hong Kong employers have lost their right to import workers after the Labour Department found one had submitted false recruitment records.
The Labour Department announced on October 12, 2026 that it had imposed an administrative sanction on Shengshi Investment Management Co, Limited and Ho Fu Kee Noodles (Tsuen Wan) Limited. Both companies had been seeking to import dishwashers under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS), which requires employers to give priority to employing suitable local workers.
Neither company did.
Upon investigation, the department established that Shengshi Investment Management had imposed additional recruitment terms without the department's approval, provided false local recruitment results, and failed to employ a qualified job seeker without reasonable excuse.
Ho Fu Kee Noodles' breach was narrower: it failed to employ a qualified job seeker without reasonable excuse.
The false local recruitment results are the detail that jumps out. Both companies failed to hire a qualified local candidate, but Shengshi Investment Management went further - it submitted recruitment results to the department that, according to the investigation, were simply not true.
The department terminated the processing of all pending ESLS applications from both companies with immediate effect. It also barred both from submitting any new applications under the scheme for a period of two years.
A Labour Department spokesman stressed that employers using the ESLS "should strictly comply with the scheme requirements, including according priority to employing suitable local workers."
The spokesman added that sanctions under the scheme can go further than what was imposed here. They may also include withdrawing approvals for importing workers that had already been granted.
Under the ESLS, violating labour or immigration laws, the requirements of the scheme, or the Standard Employment Contract can all trigger an administrative sanction from the department.
For HR teams managing workforce importation in Hong Kong, the enforcement action shows the Labour Department is prepared to shut employers out of the ESLS entirely when local hiring obligations are not met - and that submitting false recruitment results can mean losing access to the scheme for two years.
The sanctions took effect on October 12, 2026.
