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Kin Ho International Company Limited was fined $33,000 at Kwun Tong Magistrates' Court today (July 31) and its director jailed for seven days for wage offences under the Employment Ordinance. The prosecution was initiated by the Labour Department.
Kin Ho International Company Limited failed to pay wages of $46,700 to an employee within seven days after the expiry of wage period and the termination of employment as required by the Employment Ordinance. The Labour Department investigated the case and evidence showed that the wage offences were committed either with the director¡¦s consent or through his neglect.
According to Sections 23 and 25 of the Employment Ordinance, wages due on expiry of the last day of the wage period or upon termination of employment must be paid as soon as practicable, but not later than seven days. An employer who fails to do so is committing an offence.
Section 64B of the Employment Ordinance stipulates that where any wage 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, they shall be guilty of a like offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of a fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years.
A spokesman for the Labour Department welcomed the judgment, saying it would send a strong message to company directors that they had a personal responsibility to ensure that wages were paid to employees in accordance with the Employment Ordinance.
¡§This is the first case this year in which a custodial sentence has been imposed on a company director for wage offences. It shows that the courts are attaching more importance to such offences. Employers should not defy the law,¡¨ he said.
Employees who are owed wages should call the Labour Department¡¦s complaint hotline on 2815 2200 immediately.
Ends/Thursday, July 31, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:38
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