Hong Kong's maximum penalty for wage offenses under the Employment Ordinance will be raised on March 30 to a 350,000 HK dollars (44,871 U.S. dollars) fine and three year's jail.

Previous maximum penalty was 200,000 (25,641 U.S. dollars) of fine and one year jail. Hong Kong Permanent Secretary for Economic Development Labor Matthew Cheung said Wednesday the increase gives employers a clear message: Wage defaults are a serious offense.

Employers have the statutory responsibility to pay wages on time. According to Sections 23, 24 and 25 of the Employment Ordinance, wages due upon expiry of the last day of the wage period and upon completion or termination of employment must be paid as soon as practicable, but not later than seven days.

Any employer who fails to do so willfully and without reasonable excuse commits an offense.

Cheung stressed the Labor Department takes a serious view of wage defaults. In addition to raising the maximum penalty of wage offenses, inspection and vigorous enforcement will continue. Should there be sufficient evidence, offenders will be prosecuted.

He said that as a result of the department's rigorous enforcement, the number of convicted summonses on wage offenses rose from 139 in 2002 to 587 last year -- registering an increase of more than 320 percent.

In the first two months of this year, 96 convicted summonses have been secured.

Source: Xinhua