Regarding the Labour Department's notice today (8 October 2025) to suspend the recognition of Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centres Limited ("HKFWC") for organising the "Mandatory Basic Safety Training Course (Construction Work)" (commonly known as the Green Card course) for six months, until 7 April 2026, HKFWC responds as follows:
HKFWC adopts a "zero-tolerance" stance towards all cheating behaviours and strictly prohibits any misconduct. Since learning of the cheating incident, HKFWC took this incident with utmost seriousness, and have immediately taken multiple actions to investigate, fully cooperated with the Labour Department's investigation, and implemented the recommended improvements upon completion of the investigation to prevent recurrence. On 8 September 2025, we announced the relevant follow-up actions on our website and social media pages. These include:
- Course suspension and review: The Green Card course has been suspended while we review management measures to ensure all invigilation procedures and duties comply with Labour Department guidelines.
- Certificate revocation: The safety training certificates of all trainees involved in cheating have been recalled and cancelled.
- Suspension of course instructor from teaching: The trainer involved (who also acted as examiner) has been suspended from teaching any HKFWC's courses. Further decisions will be made subject to the outcome of a comprehensive review.
- Suspension of staff from relevant duties: Relevant course personnel have been suspended of administrative and management duties across all courses. Further decisions will be made subject to the outcome of a comprehensive review.
- Governance and supervision enhancement: We have implemented high-level staffing adjustments. The Convenor of the HKFWC's Quality Assurance Working Group is coordinating the supervisory work of all training courses and, together with other management staff, has formed a Task Force to review the training-course management system. Since the incident came to light, we have initiated a review and enhancements to examination procedures and points to note, in order to effectively regulate candidates' conduct, strengthen invigilation measures, and ensure examination compliance.
- Retraining and assessment: All relevant staff are required to undergo comprehensive retraining and assessment to ensure accurate execution of course management.
- Accountability: The Head of Human Resources is investigating the causes and process of the incident and will hold relevant personnel accountable in accordance with regulations.
Since 1998, HKFWC has organised a series of training courses for grassroots women. Over more than two decades, we have helped countless women re-enter the workforce and realise their potential, and have repeatedly received course-management awards from relevant training bodies, reflecting our rigorous and effective training services. We deeply regret the error caused by human negligence on this occasion and are fully aware of its impact on public perception of HKFWC. We sincerely apologise to the public and to the affected individuals for the concern and inconvenience caused.
We will uphold a rigorous, professional, and accountable approach in implementing improvement measures. Enhancements to the management of employment-related training will take immediate effect and will be strictly observed by all trainers, trainees, and staff, to ensure that all courses comply with the requirements of the Labour Department and relevant training bodies and to provide fair, professional, and high-quality training services to our trainees.