The Labour Department (LD) on Wednesday said it has banned Ying Garden from applying for imported workers for two years.

The department has also withdrawn the restaurant group’s current labour-importation applications under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS).

A department spokesman said Ying Garden had dismissed local staff after hiring imported workers, breaching the scheme’s rules, which require employers to give priority to local workers and lay off imported staff first in any round of redundancies.

"The ESLS stipulates that if an employer violates labour or immigration laws, the requirements of the ESLS or the Standard Employment Contract, the LD will impose an administrative sanction on the employer," the spokesman said.

He also reminded all employers to strictly comply with the rules.