*******************************
A construction company, Fleshup Company Limited, was fined $18,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (June 5) for a wage offence under the Employment Ordinance. The prosecution was launched by the Labour Department.
The employer failed to pay wages to an employee within seven days of the expiry of the wage period as required by the ordinance. The amount of wages involved was about $36,000. In addition to paying the fine, the employer was ordered to clear the owed wages with the employee via the court.
According to Section 23 of the Employment Ordinance, wages due upon expiry of the last day of the wage period must be paid as soon as practicable, but not later than seven days.
A spokesman for the Labour Department stressed that the maximum penalty for wage offences had been raised from March 30 this year-the fine going up from $200,000 to $350,000 and imprisonment from one year to three years.
The spokesman urged employees who were owed wages to report to the department's complaints hotline on 2815 2200 immediately.
Ends/Monday, June 5, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:23
NNNN
