Three employees, nearly HK$2 million in wages, and a deadline the company blew right past
A Hong Kong blockchain company's officer has been convicted and fined for leaving three workers more than HK$2 million out of pocket.
The responsible officer of Hong Kong Blockchain Development Company Limited pleaded guilty at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts on October 9 to charges under Hong Kong's Employment Ordinance. The company had failed to pay three employees their wages and payment in lieu of notice - effectively, pay owed instead of a notice period - within the required seven days.
The shortfall totalled approximately HK$1,927,000.
That was not the end of it. The Labour Tribunal had already ordered the company to pay approximately HK$2,147,000 to the three employees. The company missed that deadline too, failing to pay within the 14 days required by law.
The officer was prosecuted on the basis that the offences were committed with his "consent, connivance or neglect." Under Hong Kong's Employment Ordinance, liability does not stop at the company. Where a company defaults on wages, the individual officer responsible can be personally prosecuted.
The court fined the officer HK$51,000 and ordered him to pay the outstanding sum of approximately HK$2,147,000 to the affected employees.
A Labour Department spokesman said the ruling would "disseminate a strong message to all employers, directors and responsible officers of companies that they have to pay wages, termination payments and sums awarded by the LT or the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board to employees within the statutory time limit stipulated in the EO."
The spokesman added that the department "will not tolerate these offences and will spare no effort in enforcing the law and safeguarding employees' statutory rights."
For HR leaders and company officers operating in Hong Kong, the practical takeaway is straightforward: the Employment Ordinance treats unpaid wages as a criminal matter, and it holds the people in charge - not just the company - personally accountable when pay deadlines are missed.
The officer pleaded guilty. The court's orders - including the HK$51,000 fine and the HK$2,147,000 repayment - are enforceable against him personally.
