Company director fined for wage offences
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    The director of Beauty Square Limited, Ms Chong Yuen-kuen Samantha was fined $23,000 today (May 9) at the Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts for wage offences under the Employment Ordinance. The prosecution was launched by the Labour Department.

    The director failed to pay wages to two employees within seven days of the expiry of the wage period and the termination of employment as required by the ordinance. The director was ordered to clear the outstanding wages via the court.

    A spokesman for the Labour Department said company directors had a personal responsibility to ensure that wages are paid to employees in accordance with the Employment Ordinance.

    Section 64B of the Employment Ordinance stipulates that where any wage payment offence committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, the director, manager, secretary or other similar officer shall be guilty of a like offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a maximum penalty of a fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years.

    The Labour Department would not tolerate wage offences and would spare no effort in prosecuting directors and employers who defied the law, the spokesman said.

Ends/Friday, May 9, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:59

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