Company fined $68,000 for contravening Employment Ordinance

     Mount Kelly International Limited was prosecuted by the Labour Department (LD) for failing to make timely payment of wages to employees in accordance with the Employment Ordinance (EO). The company pleaded guilty at Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts today (July 29) and was fined a total of $68,000.
 
     The company failed to pay seven employees' wages totalling around $570,000 within seven days after the expiry of the wage periods as required by the EO. The company was ordered by the court to pay about $67,000 in total, the remaining sum of outstanding wages still owed to the employees as of today.
 
     "The ruling helps disseminate a strong message to all employers that they have to pay wages to employees within the statutory time limit stipulated in the EO," a spokesman for the LD said.
 
     "The LD will not tolerate these offences and will spare no effort in enforcing the law and safeguarding employees' statutory rights," the spokesman added.