*********************************
A construction company, Immvic Construction Engineering Limited, was today (October 2) fined at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts for wage offences under the Employment Ordinance. The prosecution was launched by the Labour Department.
The employer was fined $27,000 for failing to pay wages to an employee within seven days of the expiry of the wage period.
According to Section 23 of the Employment Ordinance, wages due at the end of the last day of the wage period must be paid as soon as possible but not later than seven days. Failure to do so could mean a maximum fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years.
At Fanling Magistrates' Courts today, Hoi On Security Company Limited was fined $10,000 for also failing to pay wages to an employee within seven days of the expiry of the wage period and failing to grant statutory holidays last year of the National Day and the day following Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival to that employee.
Under the Employment Ordinance, all employees, irrespective of their length of service, are entitled to 12 statutory holidays a year. According to Section 39 of the ordinance, if an employee is required to work on a statutory holiday, his employer must arrange an alternative holiday within 60 days before or after the statutory holiday.
Any employer who fails to do so wilfully and without reasonable excuse faces a maximum fine of $50,000.
The Labour Department urged employees who were owed wages or statutory holidays to call its complaint hotline, 2815 2200 immediately.
Ends/Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:31
NNNN
