*********************************
A retail shop partner, Mr Hung Chong-shing, was today (December 31) sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment by the Shatin Magistrates' Courts for wage offences under the Employment Ordinance. The prosecution was taken out by the Labour Department.
Hung and his partner Ms Chan Kwok-chun failed to pay wages to an employee within seven days after the expiry of the wage period and the termination of employment as required by the Employment Ordinance. Chan pleaded guilty to the offences on March 9 and today was fined $16,000 at the Shatin Magistrates' Courts. She was also ordered to clear the wages via the court.
According to Sections 23 and 25 of the Employment Ordinance, wages due upon expiry of the last day of the wage period and upon termination of employment shall be paid as soon as practicable but in any case not later than seven days thereafter.
Section 64B(2) of the Employment Ordinance stipulates that where any wage offence committed by a partner in a firm is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any other partner in the firm or any person concerned in the management of the firm, that partner or the person concerned in the management of the firm shall be guilty of the 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.
A spokesman for the Labour Department welcomed the judgement, adding that it would send a strong message to company directors or partners that they had a personal responsibility to ensure that wages were paid to employees in accordance with the Employment Ordinance.
"This is the seventh case in the past 12 months in which a jail sentence has been imposed on a company director or partner 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 complaints hotline on 2815 2200 immediately.
Ends/Monday, December 31, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:26
NNNN