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The employer of a foreign domestic helper (FDH) was sentenced to 240 hours' community service for failure to pay wages and long service payment, as well as default on awarded payment of Labour Tribunal under the Employment Ordinance respectively, which will be run concurrently, at Eastern Magistrates' Courts today (May 27). The prosecution was launched by the Labour Department.
The employer failed to pay wages and long service payment to the FDH within seven days after the termination of employment contract according to the Employment Ordinance. The total amount involved was about $86,000. Apart from this, the employer also failed to pay the Labour Tribunal awarded sum of about $90,400 to the FDH within 14 days after it became due.
"The judgment would disseminate a strong message to all employers that they must ensure that wages and long service payment are paid to employees in accordance with the labour law and that awarded sums of the Labour Tribunal / Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board are paid according to the terms of the awards," a spokesman for the Labour Department said.
"If FDHs suspect that they have been deprived of statutory or contractual employment rights and benefits, they should promptly report to the Labour Department, assist in investigation and give evidence to protect their interests. The Labour Department will not tolerate unlawful acts of employers and will take stringent enforcement and prosecution actions against employers who fail to comply with the labour law. An employer who wilfully and without reasonable excuse fails to pay wages or the sum payable under an award issued by the Labour Tribunal / Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board to an employee when they become due is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years," the spokesman added.
The Labour Department reminds all employers of FDHs to fulfill their statutory responsibilities and not to defy the law.
Ends/Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Issued at HKT 20:46
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