The Labour Department has warned school leavers and summer job seekers to beware of employment traps and offered them advice on labour legislation and occupational safety matters.

Senior Labour Officer for Employment Information &Promotion Danny Lau said today school leavers and summer job seekers should beware of dubious recruitment advertisements, especially those for highly paid positions that require few skills or academic qualifications.

Before signing an employment contract, they should fully understand and accept the terms. They must decline jobs that may involve unlawful or immoral behaviour, he said.

"They must think carefully before accepting any demands from an employer to pay fees, such as registration fees and administration fees, or cash payment for training, investment or purchase of goods," Mr Lau stressed.

He advised summer job seekers to immediately consult their parents, teachers or appropriate authorities such as the Police or the Consumer Council if they have any doubts or problems.

Senior Labour Officer for Workplace Consultation Promotion Catherine Chu said summer job workers are also protected by the Employment Ordinance.

"All employees covered by the ordinance enjoy basic rights and benefits conferred by the ordinance irrespective of their working hours. These include payment of wages, restrictions on wage deduction and granting of statutory holidays," she said.

She also reminded job seekers any term of an employment contract that claimed to remove or reduce any right, benefit or protection the employee has under the Employment Ordinance is invalid.

The Police and the Consumer Council alerted job seekers of certain common employment traps, such as Loco-London Gold, shell company, modelling and pyramid-selling related frauds.

Deputy Chief Occupational Safety Officer for Promotion Yam Kim-cheung advised job seekers to pay particular attention to occupational safety and health to avoid work injuries.

"They should carefully assess their own capabilities before taking up a job and pay close attention to the work environment to identify possible hazards," he said, adding they should follow safety guidelines to prevent work injuries.

Mr Yam pointed out the most common accidents at work involving summer job workers are striking against objects, slipping or tripping, injuries from hand tools, or contact with hot surfaces or substances.

"Those who work in catering establishments should exercise extra care to avoid work injuries as they might be required to use sharp knives or hot cooking equipment while standing on a potentially slippery floor.

"Potentially hazardous jobs such as those involving the operation of woodworking and dangerous machinery or the handling of chemicals may not be suitable for school leavers or summer job seekers, who are inexperienced and have not received proper training," Mr Yam said.

Under the law, people under 18 years of age are not allowed to operate any power-driven lifting appliances or loadshifting machinery, or to give signals to drivers of such appliances. They are not allowed to work on suspended working platforms or inside confined spaces.

The law also forbids untrained people under the age of 18 to work on construction sites.

A number of booklets on employment traps, labour legislation and occupational safety are available at the department's branch offices, or downloaded from here.