NEW MACAU LABOR LAW TO PREVENT "JOB HOPPING" BY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 002156 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2019 TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV ETRD ELAB HK CH SUBJECT: NEW MACAU LABOR LAW TO PREVENT "JOB HOPPING" BY FOREIGN WORKERS REF: A. HONG KONG 164 ¶B. HONG KONG 1362 ¶C. HONG KONG 1953 Classified By: A/CG Christopher Marut for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Macau's controversial new "Law on Employment of Non-Resident Workers" was passed by the Legislative Assembly on October 9 and will enter into force April 26, ¶2010. The new law is designed to address complaints from resident employers about "job-hopping" by non-resident workers, especially domestic helpers. According to the Philippine Consulate General in Macau, the new law's failure to specify a minimum wage for domestics and to require bilingual employment contracts will leave non-resident workers open to abuse. The Philippines will continue to share its concerns and encourage the Labor Bureau to draft "reasonable" regulations and administrative procedures related to the law. Senior executives at Wynn and MGM complain privately about the deleterious effects of Macau's labor policies on the service sector and Macau society. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C) Comment: Cuts in employment and wages in Macau during the recent economic downturn have fallen predominantly on non-local workers. Although Macau's official unemployment rate had edged up to 3.7 percent (projected to fall to 3.5% by end of November),the number of non-resident workers has fallen by 30 percent from its peak in September 2008. While some of this can be attributed to the suspension of labor-intensive construction projects, the Government of Macau (GOM) has embraced a policy of maintaining full employment for Macau residents by cutting work visas for non-locals (both skilled and unskilled),broadening the number of job categories to be filled exclusively by Macau residents, and "encouraging" casino operators to promote resident workers (ref B). During private discussions with us, U.S. casino operators continued to criticize GOM "meddling" in their staffing decisions. But the casinos in Macau have no choice but to fully - and quietly - comply with GOM labor policies. These policies may come under increasing pressure as several of the large-scale casino construction projects on the Cotai Strip look set to restart in the coming months. These will first require thousands of construction workers and ultimately thousands of additional staff for the new hotels and casinos. We intend to closely monitor the GOM's foreign labor policies and enforcement activities and will continue to encourage equitable treatment of U.S. companies. End Comment GOM Desire: Prevent "Job-Hopping" -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Labor Affairs Bureau Director Ka Hung Shuen told Econoff on November 18 that Macau's controversial "Law on Employment of Non-Resident Workers" would take effect on April 26, 2010. The law establishes stiff criminal penalties for employers of illegal migrants and impedes non-local workers from changing employers (ref C) by requiring a six month "cooling off period" before a foreign worker is eligible for a new Macau work visa. Shuen said his staff would work "intensively" in coming months to draft the regulations, administrative procedures, and policies necessary to implement and enforce the new law. He said the Labor Affairs Bureau and the Human Resources Office would conduct public outreach programs in early 2010, including seminars and brochures with relevant sample cases, to educate employers and non-resident workers about their rights and responsibilities under the new law. ¶4. (C) The new law serves as a supplement to Macau's "Labour Relations Law" that took effect in January. The Labor Relations Law applies to all workers in Macau, whether resident or non-resident, and governs overtime, vacation, enforcement of labor contracts and other labor-related issues. Asked why Macau needed a separate labor law governing non-resident workers, Shuen said "foreign domestic workers were suddenly leaving the families that employed them to work in restaurants, and non-resident restaurant workers were leaving to join the new hotels and casinos. People here were complaining, and we had to do something to prevent job-hopping by our foreign workers." ¶5. (C) Sheun said the GOM also wanted stiffer penalties for employers of illegal workers. The new law will criminalize the hiring of illegal migrants, compared with the current law's civil penalties. Macau Post Daily Director Harald HONG KONG 00002156 002 OF 002 Bruning told Econoff that the GOM had to address "growing insecurities" among its resident population related to the high number (and often strong qualifications) of foreign workers in Macau. "The foreign labor issue was the only one that got the Macau electorate excited," he said. In a separate meeting, Secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam assured the Acting Consul General that the new law would not leave foreign workers vulnerable to abuse. While employers who left of their own volition would be subject to the six-month rule, those who left employers because of complaints of abuse or mistreatment would not. Philippines Labor Attache Sees Deficiencies in Law -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Philippine Consulate General Macau Labor Attache Leopoldo de Jesus told Econoff that 10,996 Philippine-national "blue card holders" (i.e., legally employed non-resident workers) worked in Macau as of August ¶2009. They comprised approximately 14 percent of Macau's 77,239 blue card holders. 52 percent of Filipino non-resident workers were employed as domestic helpers earning approximately USD 313 (MOP 2,500) per month. De Jesus said Macau's new labor law governing non-resident workers failed to mandate employer provision of a written contract in English to a prospective employee. "The law requires a written contract be signed by both the employer and the employee, but employers sometimes only provide domestic workers with a contract written in Chinese or Portuguese. The worker doesn't understand what they just signed, and this has led to worker abuse and other problems." ¶7. (C) De Jesus also said the new law failed to establish a minimum wage for domestic helpers and did not address payments to employment brokers who procured non-local workers. Many employers (especially those hiring domestic workers) had unfairly deducted employment agent fees from their workers' wages. He said "the new law should have required employers to pay these fees." He hoped that regulations and administrative rules and procedures to be drafted by the Labor Bureau would be "reasonable" and address deficiencies he perceived in the new law. He plans to continue sharing his country's concerns with the Labor Bureau. Too Much Protection of Resident Workers? -------------- ¶8. (SBU) A senior AmCit executive at Wynn Macau told Econoff that the new labor law was "a double-edged sword." The new law would diminish the ability of competitors to "poach" his non-resident employees with offers of higher salaries or other benefits, prior to employment contract expiration. But it would simultaneously reduce the pool of qualified non-local workers who were previously eligible to apply for an open position at Wynn. He criticized the GOM's latest efforts to reduce the number of non-local workers and restrict their employment options in Macau. He said Macau's local labor force was "finite, fully employed and insufficient" to support the expansion of Macau's hotel/gaming sector. He said Macau's hotel room and gaming capacities would grow by at least 40 percent and 30 percent, respectively, by 2011 year-end (i.e., following the completion of the currently half-finished LVS and Galaxy mega-projects and the opening of Wynn's Encore property in April 2010). Given Macau's current full employment of local residents, thousands of additional foreign workers would be required to work in Macau. He said the need for large-scale, non-resident hiring would likely increase labor-related friction between U.S. casino concessionaires and the GOM. "We're increasingly being forced to hire unqualified and unmotivated local workers. Then we spend lots of money training them, only to see them perform poorly and quit after a few months," he said. ¶9. (SBU) In a separate meeting, a senior executive at MGM Macau opined that GOM labor policies were "dumbing down" Macau's young people by generating artificially high wages and employment opportunities for unskilled residents. "Why go to college for years and then get job offers paying the same or even less than any number of unskilled jobs here," he said. (Note: Casino dealers in Macau, all of whom must be local residents pursuant to Macau law, earn an average of USD 1,700 (MOP 13,600) per month. This exceeds Macau's median wage by 65 percent. Card dealers earn more than new college graduates in nearly every profession. End Note.) MARUT