Employers of foreign domestic helpers will not have to pay levies for five years.

The Legislative Council yesterday carried the proposal to waive the levy after a hot debate, but vetoed an amendment to scrap it on a permanent basis.

The monthly levy of HK$400, introduced in 2003, funds the Employees Retraining Board (ERB), which provides training to jobseekers.

In moving the proposal, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung said the government agreed to extend the waiver period from two to five years after taking into consideration the impact of the financial tsunami on middle class families as well as the financial situation of the retraining fund.

Envisaging high unemployment in the face of financial tsunami, the ERB needs sufficient resources to equip the working population with adequate skills, he said.

"The new five-year plan is pragmatic and reasonable," he added.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions both supported the government proposal.

The retraining fund can help poorly skilled and poorly educated knowledge workers, said DAB vice-chairman Ip Kwok-him. To safeguard a stable retraining fund, the party has reservations about scrapping the levy totally.

Independent lawmaker Regina Ip, who moved to scrap the levy, described the levy as discriminatory on foreign domestic helpers while forcing the middle class to shoulder an unfair burden.

Lawmakers who opposed the levy pointed out the retraining should be funded from general revenue like education and welfare policies.

(HK Edition 12/11/2008 page1)