Subsidy Scheme for Employment Agencies opens for application

     The Labour Department (LD) today (March 14) announced that the Subsidy Scheme for Employment Agencies (EAs) (the Scheme) introduced under the sixth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund (AEF) will be open for application from March 17 to April 29.

     EAs with a valid licence issued by the LD will be granted a one-off lump sum subsidy under the Scheme. A subsidy of $50,000 will be granted for each main licence of EAs that provide a foreign domestic helper (FDH) placement service. For EAs that do not provide a FDH placement service, a subsidy of $30,000 will be granted for each main licence. An additional subsidy of $10,000 will be granted for each duplicate licence for a branch office of both kinds of EAs.

     An EA eligible to apply for a subsidy under the Scheme must:
 

  1. have held a valid licence issued by the LD under section 52 of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) as at January 31, 2022. If the validity period of the current licence of the EA is less than two months on the date of subsidy application, the EA must have submitted an application for licence renewal to the LD in accordance with Regulation 2 of the Employment Agency Regulations (EAR) (Cap. 57A); or
  2. have submitted an application for the issue of a new licence in accordance with Regulation 2 of EAR as at December 31, 2021, and the application was still under processing as at January 31, 2022.

      If an EA has applied to the LD for issue of a new licence or renewal of licence according to the above, the subsidy will only be disbursed after the licence application is approved.

     An LD spokesman said, "The LD has simplified the application procedure for EAs which were granted subsidy under the Scheme under the second round of the AEF in 2020 and meeting the eligibility criteria for the current round of subsidy. Eligible EAs are only required to confirm the payment method by submitting the 'Simplified Application Form'. The LD will vet the eligibility of the EAs and calculate the amount of subsidy to which they are entitled based on the licence records and information submitted during the previous round of subsidy application. The LD will invite application from these EAs by post or email on March 15. For other licensed EAs, the LD will invite application from them by post or email on March 17 by submitting the 'Specified Application Form'."
 
     The spokesman continued, "For EAs meeting the requirement in item (1) above and intending to apply for a subsidy of $50,000, they will be required to declare that they had provided FDH placement service on or before January 31, 2022, and may be required to submit documentary proof as necessary. As for EAs meeting the requirement in item (2) above, they can only apply for a subsidy of $30,000 as they have only been issued a new licence after January 31, 2022."

     EAs may download the "Simplified Application Form" or "Specified Application Form" at the LD's website (www.labour.gov.hk) or the EA Portal (www.eaa.labour.gov.hk). Completed forms and the required documents must be submitted to and received by the office of Employment Agencies Administration (EAA) of LD (address: Unit 906, 9/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, 1 Mong Kok Road, Kowloon) by post (the postmark date will be regarded as the date of receipt of the application), by facsimile (fax no: 2115 3756, the date shown on the fax will be regarded as the date of receipt of the application), by email (email address: ea-subsidy@labour.gov.hk) or in person on or before April 29, 2022. If the application is submitted by facsimile or email, the LD may ask the applicant concerned to provide the original copy of the documents for verification. Late applications, incomplete applications or applications with late submission of the required documents will not be considered.

     For applications submitted by email, please indicate "Application for Subsidy Scheme for Employment Agencies" and the EA licence number in the subject of the email. All forms and documents must be clearly scanned and submitted as an attachment in document format (e.g. PDF format). Applications or documents submitted in the format of photo or image will not be accepted. 

     For enquiries about the Scheme, please contact the EAA of the LD at 2115 3665.