What is SLS

• The Supplementary Labour Scheme (SLS) is a labour importation scheme which allows employers with genuine difficulties in finding suitable local staff at technician level or below to import workers to alleviate the manpower shortages. Employers, irrespective of their industry, may apply for imported workers under the SLS.

How to apply

• The Job Matching Centre of the Labour Department is the Application Office of the SLS. Interested employers may submit their applications (Form SLS-1) together with the necessary documents by e-mail to the Job Matching Centre at ldgradmn@eths.labour.gov.hk or by mail or in person to the Job Matching Centre at :

Room 929, 9/F, Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices
303 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon.
Telephone no.: 2150 6363
Facsimile no.: 2504 3160

What are the application procedures

• Interested employers should complete the application form (Form SLS-1) and submit it to the Application Office either by e-mail, by mail or in person.
  
• The Application Office will inform the applicants within one week whether the wages offered are at or above the median wage level, and whether the stipulated requirements of the vacancies are acceptable.
  
• Employers whose applications are accepted will be required to go through a four-week local recruitment exercise to test the availability of suitable local workers. Where appropriate, employers will also be asked to organize training programmes with the assistance of the Employees Retraining Board to train up local workers to fill the vacancies.
  
• Applications which have gone through the prescribed local recruitment exercise will be passed to the Labour Advisory Board for consideration. Upon the advice of Labour Advisory Board, the Government will consider whether to approve or refuse each application. All applications are considered on a case-by-case basis.
  
• The application processing time under the SLS normally takes about nine weeks. Employers are therefore advised to submit applications early in the light of the processing time required under the scheme.
• Under the SLS, the approval granted to an employer to import workers would not be automatically renewed. An employer who wishes to continue employing imported workers upon the expiry of their contracts are required to submit an application afresh to the Labour Department, and the application will be considered on its own merits.

Employers intending to apply under the SLS are also advised to read the pamphlet "How to apply under the Supplementary Labour Scheme" (PDF) for more details on the application procedures and conditions of the scheme.