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The Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2010, which was passed by the Legislative Council on April 28, is gazetted today (May 7).
Under the ordinance, an employer who wilfully and without reasonable excuse fails to pay any sum awarded by the Labour Tribunal and Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board comprising wages and entitlements underpinned by criminal sanctions under the Employment Ordinance (EO) will be liable to prosecution.
An employer commits an offence if he wilfully and without reasonable excuse fails to pay the awarded sum within 14 days from the date on which it is due, and is liable to a maximum penalty for the new offence will be $350,000 and three years' imprisonment, same as the highest penalty for wage offences under the EO. If the wilful default of award committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent, connivance or neglect of a director or responsible person of the body corporate, the director or responsible person commits the like offence. Where the wilful default of an award by a partner of a firm is committed with the consent, connivance or neglect of any other partner or person concerned in the management of the firm, that other partner or person commits the like offence.
The ordinance will come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare by notice published in the Gazette.
Ends/Friday, May 7, 2010
Issued at HKT 11:00
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