Transcript of remarks by SLW on the wage arrears of ATV
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     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, on the wage arrears of ATV after attending a special meeting of Legislative Council Panel on Welfare Services today (February 6):
 
Secretary for Labour and Welfare: We are very concerned about the situation at ATV. In fact, the Labour Department this morning has proactively contacted the representatives of the staff. We will be holding a briefing session at three o'clock this afternoon at the Tai Po Civic Centre. In fact, there is a two-fold purpose, one is to explain to them their employment rights and benefits, for example, how to get back their outstanding wages and what sorts of assistance the government can provide to help them. The second objective is to provide employment services. The Department has managed to canvass 260 suitable job vacancies in various broadcasting companies, maybe suitable for them. And also there are quite a number of vacancies in the private sector now, like drivers, carpenters, so on and so forth. So we really want to help them. If they want to look for jobs, I can assure you that we stand ready to help them. Also, we will be operating a dedicated telephone hotline service on employment rights and benefits over the holidays, from nine o'clock to six o'clock in the afternoon. The Labour Department's staff will man the phone personally to answer all queries. We will do what we can to help them at this difficult time.
 
Reporter: Mr Cheung, how to ensure people who have one-month overdue wages but not up to two months to claim their compensations?
 
Secretary for Labour and Welfare: We will help them depending on individual cases. For those who are owed wages for December, you know it is already a criminal offence for the part of ATV. That's why we are pursuing whether we should launch prosecution. Employers have statutory duties to pay wages. Outstanding wages are not acceptable and not legally acceptable and also it is against the law. So we will certainly enforce the law stringently and strictly, and make sure that justice is done.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Saturday, February 6, 2016
Issued at HKT 14:47

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