XN000022-1994-12-03+04 — Page 13

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$20,000-fine for unreported overtime work

The Labour Department today (Sunday) urged factory proprietors and employers to comply with labour law and stop engaging women to work outside their normal permitted period of employment.

Labour Officer (Prosecutions) Miss Rita Ma said factory proprietors and employers had to submit applications of overtime work for woman workers to the Labour Department if they wanted to engage women to work overtime.

In a recent court case, the employer of Draper Company Limited in Kwai Chung was fined a total of $20,000 at the Tsuen Wan Magistracy for engaging women in unreported overtime work on two separate occasions.

The case was detected when Labour inspectors of the Labour Department conducted their routine inspections.

On the first occasion, the company was found to have engaged 12 women in were found working unreported overtime work. On another occasion, 10 women overtime illegally.

A maximum fine of $10,000 was imposed for each of the two summonses.

Miss Ma pointed out that it was an offence under the Women and Young Persons(Industry) Regulations for an employer to change the fixed working hours of women in industry or to engage them in overtime work without notifying the Labour Department beforehand.

"The law also requires the employer to display in a conspicuous place in the factory a prescribed notice setting out the period of employment, intervals for meals or rest, and rest day for woman workers," she said.

She advised employers to adhere strictly to the permissible hours of work set out in the prescribed notice.

Any employer who breaches the regulations is liable to a maximum fine of $10,000.

end/Sunday, December 4, 1994