FTU lawmaker Michael Luk on Tuesday urged the government to beef up support for non-local workers, saying they are vulnerable to exploitation.

Under the 'Supplementary Labour Scheme', there are currently about 4,000 care workers imported from the mainland to work at elderly homes across the city.

Luk told a press conference that his party has received complaints from several care workers, who accused their employer of colluding with mainland intermediaries to withhold their wages.

He gave an example of a woman who complained of having HK$5,150 deducted off her salary of HK$14,150 every month.

“When the government sent inspectors to the care homes, the workers were ordered by their employers ‘not to talk nonsense’”, he said.

The lawmaker pointed out that under the current mechanism, non-local workers are often too scared to file a complaint in fear of losing their job and a place to live.

“Inspections from the labour department are merely symbolic gestures. Why is it that so much exploitation remains hidden and undiscovered? The sporadic nature of the complaints each year does not mean there are no issues – it means that the current system is unable to identify the problems,” he said.

He called on the enforcement officers to proactively reach out to these workers, and provide them with greater support on job seeking to give them a bigger sense of security.