The government has received hundreds of complaints about suspected abuse of a programme allowing companies to recruit workers from outside the city for low-skilled positions, Labour Secretary Chris Sun said on Tuesday.

Sun told the Ming Pao newspaper that as of July, there had been 370 complaints regarding the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme, with 11 firms found to have violated the Employment Ordinance, for example by refusing to hire locals for vacant posts without a valid reason.

Three of the employers were in the catering sector, the minister said.

The Labour Department has imposed “administrative sanctions” on the 11 companies, banning them from applying to bring in outside employees for up to two years.

There have been calls for the scheme to be suspended after the city's unemployment rose to 3.7 percent recently.

But Sun said the situation must be assessed "dynamically," adding that there are still vacancies for some roles. This includes dishwashers, despite the arrival of about 1,600 new recruits.

The labour chief said a review of the scheme is expected to be completed in the first half of next year, adding that applications will still be accepted in the meantime.