ENG-2015 — Page 149

6

Employment

Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board

This board determines claims arising from disputes of statutory or contractual rights of employment that involve not more than 10 claimants in each case and for sums not exceeding $8,000 per claimant. In 2015, it dealt with 1,054 claims and granted awards amounting to $2.49 million.

Labour Tribunal

The Labour Tribunal is part of the Judiciary and is a quick, simple and inexpensive channel for adjudicating labour disputes that are not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board. In 2015, 4,006 cases were filed with the tribunal, of which 3,916 were initiated by employees and 90 by employers. Of these, 90 per cent were referred to the tribunal by the Labour Department. The tribunal dealt with 3,639 cases and granted awards totalling more than $201 million, or 1,071 cases and $39 million less than those in 2014.

Employees' Rights and Benefits

The Employment Ordinance provides for various employment-related benefits and entitlements to employees. Over and above the statutory requirements, employers and employees are free to negotiate the terms and conditions of employment.

Legal Protection

In general, children under 15 are prohibited by law from taking up employment. Children aged between 13 and 14 may work in non-industrial establishments under strict rules, while people in the 15-17 age group may work in industrial establishments, subject to restrictions on their working hours.

Labour inspectors conduct workplace inspections to ensure employers' compliance with laws which safeguard workers' rights and benefits, and that employers have taken out employees' compensation insurance. The inspectors also check employees' proof of identity and collaborate with the police and the Immigration Department to combat illegal employment. In 2015, the three departments carried out 210 joint operations.

Enforcement against Wage Offences

Apart from taking active steps to prevent wage defaults, the Labour Department takes vigorous enforcement action against employers who fail to pay wages due to their employees, and against employers who wilfully and without reasonable excuse fail to pay sums awarded by the Labour Tribunal or Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board.

In 2015, the department secured 521 convictions for wage offences and 103 convictions for failure to pay sums awarded by the tribunal or the board. One employer was sentenced to imprisonment for wage offences and another employer and two company directors were ordered to perform community service as a result of wage defaults and the offence of failing to pay sums awarded by the tribunal.

113