Hong Kong restaurant hit with ban for firing local staff after importing workers

Hong Kong authorities have banned a restaurant from bringing in staff from outside the city for two years after finding it sacked local employees and used imported workers.

On top of the ban, authorities will also cancel the in-principle approval previously granted to the restaurant, which specialises in banquets, to import staff.

The restaurant has been hit with the heaviest penalty allowed under existing policy, according to Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han.

“We hope to send a strong signal to employers that they have to follow the rules laid down by the government,” Sun said on Friday.

“It is crystal clear that we are adopting a local-workers-first policy.”

The Labour Department announced the “administrative sanction” against Top One Dance Club & Chinese Cuisine in Tsim Sha Tsui on Friday. The two-year ban came into force on Wednesday.