Hong Kong SAR ChinaLabour Department
Hong Kong ESLS Rev. 9/2026 packs split authorisation, widen Appendix 2A
On the Rev. 9/2026 ESLS packs a third-party mandate goes on Appendix 3A and a staff authorisation on Appendix 3B, and Appendix 2A is now also filed by holders of catering-related imported-worker quota.
By Taxxa AI OyPublished 18 September 2026
Industry: Food and beverage service activities
Employers applying to import workers at technician level or below under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme must file on the September 2026 packs (Rev. 9/2026)
Labour: form ESLS-1A for common postsLabour and form ESLS-1B for non-common postsLabour. An applicant that mandates an outside company to handle the application signs Appendix 3A, the Appointment of Third-party Company for Handling Application – Authorisation and Declaration FormLabour; an applicant whose own staff member handles it files Appendix 3B, the staff-member authorisation letterLabour. Each is filed only if applicableLabour, in place of the single Appendix 3A / Appendix 3B authorisation letter the July 2026 round carriedLabour.
Appendix 2 (Information of Full-time Local Employees) stays the default returnLabour, and Appendix 2A is completed instead in either of two cases: the application involves catering-related posts, meaning the production section and/or the table service section, or the applicant has previously been granted imported-worker quota for those posts and relevant imported workers are still in employ, have yet to arrive in Hong Kong, or valid quota remains unusedLabour. The July 2026 round had required Appendix 2A only for an application involving catering-related posts, and named no second caseLabour.
An applicant that has imported-worker details to report files Appendix 4 (Information of Imported Workers); where there is nothing to report it is not filed. An applicant files Appendix 6, Workplace Arrangements for Imported Workers, only if applicableLabour; the July 2026 round had required Appendix 6 (Information of Licence(s)/Approval(s) Required for Lawful Operation of Business) from every applicantLabour. Justifications for Labour Importation (Appendix 5), the Appendix 1 declaration for sole proprietors and partnership firms, and the Applicant's Confirmation Letter (Appendix 7) remain part of the bundle.
An applicant must undertake the Labour Department's local recruitment exercise for each vacancy under application, alongside the Department's active job matchingLabour. Workers are engaged under a Standard Employment Contract (LD 294)Labour for no longer than 24 monthsLabour, paid no less than the median monthly wage of the relevant post in Hong KongImmd, and confined to the employer, duties and workplaces the contract specifiesLabour. Each successful employer pays the Employees Retraining Levy in a lump sum of HK$400 multiplied by the number of months covered by the employment contract, up to a maximum of 24 monthsLabour, after approval of the visa or entry permit application and before the Immigration Department issues itLabour; the levy is not refundable under any circumstancesLabour. The separate Corrigendum to Standard Employment Contract is no longer offeredLabour: the Immigration Department ceased to accept it with effect from 14 September 2026Labour.
Legal basis: the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme is a labour importation scheme under section 14(3) of the Employees Retraining Ordinance (Cap. 423) and a Government importation of labour scheme under section 2(4)(a)(v) of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115); the Employees Retraining Levy is imposed by section 14 of, and Schedule 3 to, Cap. 423.
Rebuild any ESLS bundle still on the July 2026 forms: Appendix 3A or 3B for the authorisation, the new workplace-arrangements Appendix 6, and Appendix 2A in place of Appendix 2 where the application involves catering-related posts or the applicant still holds imported workers or unused quota granted for such posts.