Labour Advisory Board Report 2015-2016 - Chapter 5
Committee on Employment Services
5.1 Introduction
In May 1976, a sub-committee of the Labour Advisory Board (LAB) was appointed to advise the Commissioner for Labour on matters concerning the operation of the Employment Services Division of the Labour Department (LD). The sub-committee was renamed as the Committee on Employment Services (CES) in 1978 and its terms of reference were extended to cover the work of all divisions under the Employment Services Programme of LD.
5.2 Terms of Reference
CES is established to:
- advise on the employment services provided by LD, including those for the able-bodied and people with disabilities, and the careers advisory service for young people;
- advise on legislative provisions relating to the operation of employment agencies; and
- advise on legislative provisions relating to the employment of local workers outside Hong Kong.
5.3 Composition
Members of CES are appointed by the Commissioner for Labour. The composition of the committee for the 2015-2016 term is as follows:
| Chairman: | To be appointed from the non-government sector |
| Members: | Two# employer representatives from LAB |
| Two# employee representatives from LAB | |
| Two employer representatives from outside LAB | |
| Two employee representatives from outside LAB | |
| A representative of employers who make use of the employment services of LD | |
| A representative of people with disabilities who make use of the employment services of LD | |
| Not more than two representatives nominated by employment agency associations | |
| A representative nominated by the Hong Kong Association of Careers Masters and Guidance Masters | |
| A representative nominated by the Employees Retraining Board | |
| A representative nominated by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management | |
| A representative from one of the social partners of LD | |
| A representative from a tertiary educational institution | |
| Assistant Commissioner for Labour (Employment Services) | |
| Secretary: | A Labour Officer of LD |
# Only one representative shall be appointed if the chairman has been appointed from this group.
The membership list of CES for the 2015-2016 term is at Appendix II.
5.4 Activities during the 2015-2016 Term
During the 2015-2016 term, CES offered advice on the following employment services and measures:
Employment ServicesCES offered advice on LD’s employment services to able-bodied job seekers, people with disabilities, mature persons, young people, new arrivals and ethnic minorities as well as recruitment services to employers. CES also discussed and gave views on the operation of various specialised employment programmes, including the Employment Programme for the Middle-aged, the Youth Employment and Training Programme, the Employment Services Ambassador Programme for Ethnic Minorities and the Work Trial Scheme, etc. administered by LD for job seekers with employment difficulty.
Construction Industry Recruitment CentreTo facilitate local construction workers to find jobs and employers of the industry to recruit workers, LD set up the third industry-based recruitment centre, the Construction Industry Recruitment Centre (CIRC), in January 2016. CIRC provides a venue for employers, contractors and sub-contractors of the construction industry to organise job fairs and conduct on-the-spot job interviews with job seekers, enhancing the efficiency in job search and recruitment. CES noted that CIRC had been launched smoothly.
Draft Code of Practice for Employment AgenciesTo promote professionalism and service quality of employment agencies (EAs), LD sought to promulgate a Code of Practice for EAs (Code) for the industry to follow and conducted public consultation during April to June 2016 on the draft Code, including consultation with CES. At its meeting on 11 May 2016, CES offered advice on the content and implementation of the Code, as well as on improvements of the operations of the industry. Having carefully considered all the views collected upon the close of the consultation for refining the Code, LD formally promulgated the Code on 13 January 2017.