Employer failed to promptly pay employee wages amounting to $260,000
Rayland International Cooperation Limited, along with its two responsible officers, has been fined a total of $64,200 by the Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts for breaching the Employment Ordinance (EO), according to the Hong Kong Labour Department.
The penalties were issued following the company's and officers' guilty pleas in court on October 24, after they failed to meet statutory wage payment deadlines and settlement obligations under the EO.
The Labour Department detailed that Rayland International Cooperation failed to pay an employee wages amounting to approximately $260,000 within seven days after the wage period ended. The company was also found to have failed to pay an additional awarded sum of around $630,000 within 14 days of the Labour Tribunal's decision, as legally required.
According to the Labour Department, the director and the manager were found guilty of their involvement in the offences, specifically through "consent, connivance, or neglect."
"The ruling helps disseminate a strong message to all employers, directors, managers and responsible officers of companies that they have to pay wages to employees within the statutory time limit stipulated in the EO, as well as the sums awarded by the LT or the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board," a spokesperson from the Labour Department said in a statement.
Wage regulations in Hong Kong
Employers across Hong Kong are directed by the Employment Ordinance to pay wages to an employee "as soon as practicable but in any case not later than seven days after the end of the wage period."
"An employer is required to pay interest on the outstanding amount of wages to the employee if he fails to pay wages to the employee within seven days when it becomes due," the EO read.
The Labour Department underscored its commitment to enforcing these regulations, with the spokesperson adding: "The LD will not tolerate these offences and will spare no effort in enforcing the law and safeguarding employees' statutory rights."
