Hong Kong employment agency compliance guide: Code of Practice, commission cap and record-keeping (2026)

The short answer: three hard lines — licence × fees × records

Compliance for a Hong Kong employment agency concentrates on three hard lines: the licence line — under Part XII of the Employment Ordinance and the Employment Agency Regulations, anyone providing employment agency services must first obtain a licence from the Commissioner for Labour; the fee line — commission charged to job seekers carries a statutory cap and timing, and overcharging is a criminal offence; the records line — job seeker, employer and fee records must be kept and produced on Labour Department inspection.

All three are running obligations, not one-off pre-opening homework: the licence runs one year with renewal due at least 2 months before expiry; the commission cap applies to every placement; records accumulate with the business daily. This guide unpacks each line against the current official position and closes with a self-check list.

Licensed agencies can run it as a periodic review; those still preparing should start with the licence-application guide — application details are not repeated here.

The licence line: Employment Ordinance Part XII and the Employment Agency Regulations

Licences are issued by the Labour Department and valid for one year; renewal applications must be filed at least 2 months before expiry. The fee position: the licence fee is HK$2,000, plus HK$385 per duplicate licence where applicable; unlicensed operation carries a maximum fine of HK$350,000 and 3 years' imprisonment on conviction.

Beyond the statute sits a soft constraint: the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies sets out the main statutory requirements and the standards the Commissioner expects the trade to meet. The Code is not itself the Ordinance — but non-compliance lets the Commissioner refuse to issue or renew, or revoke, a licence. For a licence holder, the Code's provisions are in practice the operating floor.

Fee line one: the 10% commission cap, charged only after successful placement

Per the Labour Department's job-seeker guidance on the employment agencies portal: the commission an agency may charge a job seeker must not exceed 10% of the first month's wages earned after the job seeker has successfully obtained a position — the base is the first month's wages actually earned following successful placement, and commission may only be charged after successful employment. Taking capped-exceeding fees before placement already points the wrong way.

The cap applies to all job seekers — the official page states expressly that the provision applies to all job seekers: foreign domestic helper job seekers enjoy the same 10% protection, with no separate "FDH" standard.

Two supporting rules: beyond the prescribed commission, an agency must not directly or indirectly charge a job seeker any other fee or expense connected with the employment placement; and job seekers should be issued a receipt after paying commission — every receipt you issue is also an entry the Labour Department can reconcile on inspection.

Fee line two: the May 2024 revised Code of Practice — service agreements state fees and refunds

On 9 May 2024 the Labour Department issued the revised Code of Practice for Employment Agencies, replacing the version issued on 9 February 2018. For foreign domestic helper business, the revision writes the FDH employer's consumer protection into the service-agreement requirement: when signing a service agreement with an FDH employer, the agency must state the fee amount for each category of service, and clearly explain whether it will provide a refund or a replacement helper if it fails to complete all services, or if the FDH terminates the employment contract early within the two-year contract period.

The rest of the same revision lands directly on daily operations: licence and renewal applications must declare any association with financial institutions; agencies must not provide job seekers with information about personal loans; must not withhold job seekers' employment contracts to force payment or repayment; must not publicly post, display or disclose sensitive personal data of job seekers and related persons; must not use business practices such as offering money to serving FDHs to induce early contract termination; and must provide the Labour Department with information relating to temporary accommodation for FDH job seekers.

The records line: transaction records and job seeker/employer files for inspection

The records line is the most underestimated of the three: job seeker and employer records, commission receipts and transaction records are exactly what the Labour Department asks to see on inspection. The Code requires agencies to keep proper records of job seekers and employers and to receipt fees charged; the official guidance for job seekers is likewise to ask for a receipt after paying commission — the receipt system has to reconcile at both ends.

Two execution reminders: first, the specific retention periods and particulars for each record type follow the Code's own text — this guide does not invent numbers rather than risk reciting an outdated one; second, how records are stored is also a data-protection question — the revised Code expressly prohibits publicly posting, displaying or disclosing sensitive personal data, and scattering profiles across group chats and spreadsheets risks more than "can't find it".

Inspections and consequences

The Employment Agencies Administration handles licensing and enforcement and investigates job seeker complaints. Per the official enforcement-time-limit note, prosecutions for unlicensed operation and overcharging of job seekers must be brought within 12 months of the offence — complain early, and self-correct early.

Consequences run on two levels: administrative — non-compliance with the Code lets the Commissioner refuse to issue or renew, or revoke, the employment agency licence, i.e. losing the ability to operate; criminal — unlicensed operation carries a maximum fine of HK$350,000 and 3 years' imprisonment, and overcharging commission is itself a criminal offence. The licence business presupposes licence safety; hold both lines.

Systemising it: fee receipts, service agreements and match records in ZJ.SUO

Spread the three lines out and the daily work is four ledgers: job seeker profiles, jobs and employers, the matching trail, and fee receipts. ZJ.SUO is designed around that structure: the Talent Harbor candidate database keeps profiles and documents; job and employer management mirrors the vacancy book; Career Compass leaves an audit trail for every match and recommendation; contract and fee records keep commission receipts and service agreements structured and retrievable — producible on inspection in the Code's terms.

The boundary, stated plainly: the system replaces no legal duty, and record standards follow official requirements; what it fixes is the "scattered across chats, ledgers rebuilt at month-end" execution problem — on inspection you pull records to standard instead of scrolling chat history.

Hong Kong agency compliance self-check list

Against the official positions above, run this quarterly:

• Licence in force; renewal filed at least 2 months before expiry
• Fee schedule displayed at the premises; every commission within 10% of first-month wages and charged only after successful placement
• Receipt issued for every fee; no direct or indirect charges beyond the prescribed commission
• FDH service agreements state category-by-category fees plus refund or replacement arrangements
• Job seeker/employer records and transaction records retained and producible on Labour Department inspection
• No withholding of job seekers' contracts; no personal-loan information; no public posting of sensitive personal data
• Financial-institution associations declared truthfully on licence and renewal applications