The Housing Authority Tender Committee has endorsed a set of tightening measures to deter unscrupulous cleaning and security contractors from exploiting their workers.

Committee chairman Professor Patrick Lau said a clear message must be sent to the industry that the Government will not tolerate worker exploitation. The measures, to be introduced May 1, will cover tender evaluation, contract administration and list management to weed out unscrupulous contractors.

At the evaluation stage, a tenderer's offer will not be considered by the authority if during the 12-month period prior to the tender approval date the tenderer has committed any offence under the Employment, Employees' Compensation, Immigration or the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme Ordinances, or if three demerit points have been received from a Government department.

"This will also apply to contract extension and approval of sub-contractors proposed under Property Service Agent (PSA) contracts," Professor Lau said. "Even if the conviction or demerit point in question is under appeal, it will still be deemed as subsisting and counted for tender evaluation purposes."

Demerit points

A service contract will be terminated when the contractor has, in that particular contract, attracted three or more demerit points or has one or more conviction records under the relevant ordinances.

"Where a cleansing or security sub-contractor of a PSA contract has one or more conviction records under the relevant ordinances for the subcontract, the authority will, under the current PSA contract conditions, require the PSA contractor to remove the sub-contractor from the contract forthwith," Professor Lau said. "In addition, the PSA contractor will be given an adverse report for poor management of its sub-contractors."

As a "goalkeeper", the authority will further step up Contractor List Management control. A contractor will be removed from the respective authority Lists of Contractors if the it has accumulated three or more demerit points under one or more government contracts over a three-year rolling period; or it has one or more convictions under the relevant ordinances.

Speedy action

"The period of removal from the lists will be of a maximum of five years from the date of conviction or from the date on which the third demerit point was awarded," Professor Lau said. "To take speedy action against contractors with convictions and demerit points, the Housing Department will regularly review the status of all listed contractors in respect of convictions and demerit points received by these contractors."

For new applications for inclusion or for re-admission in the relevant authority lists, particular attention will be paid to the probity of the services company, including records of fair treatment to workers.

To bring PSA subcontractors under the authority's list management control, subcontractors must be chosen from those already listed on the relevant authority lists of contractors.