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Following is a question by Hon Albert Ho and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (January 7):
Question:
It has been reported that Asia Television Limited (ATV) defaulted twice, in September and November last year, on payments of employees' wages for many days. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective total numbers of requests for assistance and complaints received by the authorities in the past five years in relation to employers defaulting on payments of employees' wages, and the number of cases in which the employers concerned were prosecuted and the details of such cases;
(2) as it has been reported that the authorities have received requests for assistance from ATV employees in respect of ATV defaulting on payments of their wages, of the details of such cases and the authorities' follow-up actions; and
(3) given that the Chief Executive in Council is considering ATV's application for renewal of the domestic free television programme service licence, whether the relevant considerations will include the incidents of ATV defaulting on payments of employees' wages; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Labour Department (LD) has all along been taking stringent enforcement action against wage default by employers. Regarding the suspected offences of Asia Television Limited (ATV) under the Employment Ordinance (EO) for failing to pay employees wages due in September 2014, LD completed investigation of the cases and obtained legal advice from the Department of Justice (DoJ). On December 31, 2014, LD laid a total of 34 summonses against ATV and the concerned director respectively for offences of wilfully and without reasonable excuse failing to pay employees wages due; and committing wage offences with the consent, connivance or neglect of the concerned director. As regards the outstanding wage payment for the month of November 2014, LD is actively investigating the suspected wage offences and maintains close liaison with DoJ. If there is sufficient evidence, LD will take out prosecution against ATV and its directors again.
My reply to the question raised by Hon Albert Ho is set out below -
1. In the past five years, the numbers of claims and complaints related to alleged non-payment of wages handled by LD are set out at Annex 1.
A breakdown of the numbers of prosecution against employers and convictions and the amount of fines over the same period is set out at Annex 2.
Of the convicted summonses, seven employers and eight company directors were sentenced to imprisonment owing to wage offences while thirteen employers and nine directors were sentenced to community services order.
2. LD attaches great importance to safeguarding the statutory rights of employees. In respect of the wage offences committed by ATV, LD has conducted prompt follow-up actions and investigation.
Upon receipt of ATV employees' reporting of non-payment of wages for September 2014 in early October 2014, LD immediately gave ATV due advice and stern warnings both verbally and in writing. LD also met ATV management to repeatedly urge it both verbally and in writing to resolve the wage payment issue promptly, and reminded it of its liability for wage payment under EO as well as the criminal consequences for any breaches thereof. In parallel, LD has initiated investigation of wage offences by conducting inspections to ATV to interview both company representatives and employees, checking the wage and employment records to detect wage offences, and collecting evidence for consideration of taking out prosecution against the employer.
In the past few weeks, LD spared no efforts within its purview to provide necessary assistance to affected employees, including setting up a hotline for ATV employees to make enquiries and seek appropriate assistance, organising briefings to explain to employees their statutory rights under relevant legislation, assisting employees to file claims with the Labour Tribunal, and inviting them to act as prosecution witnesses to facilitate investigation of suspected breaches. With the appointment of a new manager of ATV by the High Court, LD immediately lined up a meeting for the appointed manager and ATV's employee representatives to have direct dialogue.
3. According to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, ATV's current domestic free television programme service licence will expire on November 30, 2015. In connection with ATV's application for renewal of its free TV licence, the Communications Authority has submitted to the Chief Executive (CE) in Council its recommendations under the Broadcasting Ordinance. In processing the said application, the CE in Council will give regard to all relevant factors, including the licensee's operational capability and financial condition, etc., before making a decision.
Ends/Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Issued at HKT 13:00
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