*********************************************************
The director of DCDC (HK) Limited, engaged in the computer animation/information technology industry, was sentenced to a community service order of 100 hours at the Eastern Magistrates' Court today (July 8) for non-compliance of an award issued by the Labour Tribunal. The prosecution was taken out by the Labour Department.
A spokesman for the Labour Department said that the judgment would send a strong message to directors or responsible persons of limited companies that they have to ensure that payment of the awards issued by the Labour Tribunal or the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board are duly complied with.
"This is the first prosecution taken out after the relevant sections of the Employment Ordinance came into effect on October 29, 2010. A community service order has been imposed on the defendant, which shows that the courts are attaching great importance to such offences. Employers should not defy the law," the spokesman said.
The company failed to pay the awarded sum of about $310,000 to an employee within 14 days from the date of the award. The director was convicted for the consent, connivance or neglect in the offence.
Section 43Q(1) of the Employment Ordinance stipulates that where any offence of non-compliance of the awards issued by the Labour Tribunal or the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board 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, the director, manager, secretary or other similar officer shall be guilty of a 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.
Company directors have a personal responsibility to ensure that awards by the Labour Tribunal or the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board are complied with according to their terms. The spokesman for the Labour Department said, "The Labour Department will not tolerate the offences of non-compliance of awards issued by the Labour Tribunal or the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board and will spare no effort in bringing to justice directors and employers who defy the law."
Ends/Friday, July 8, 2011
Issued at HKT 18:23
NNNN
