LEGISLATORS are calling for laws to be tightened against Hong Kong bosses who leave staff short- changed amid growing concern over wage defaults in the city.

A spate of high-profile cases where employees have been left empty-handed despite court orders against bosses has fuelled demands for a tougher wage law regime.

A number of companies struggling to stay afloat have failed to meet salary obligations, forcing staff to launch legal action at the Labour Tribunal. However, despite getting court orders, the bosses have often failed to pay.

Lawmakers have also voiced concern that staff members who did not launch legal action would not be protected.

Legislator Matthew Cheung Kin-chung pressed the government to tighten the Employment Ordinance during a council meeting this week. 'When can this tiger have teeth?' he said.

Unions and labour groups have urged the government to make it tougher for bosses to ignore the law by including provisions against those employers who 'act without reasonable excuse' in relation to the payment of wages.

Convictions for wage offences against companies shot up by 92 per cent in the first three months of 2008 compared with the same period last year, and in 2007 there were 126 convicted summonses for wage offences, an increase of 83 per cent over the previous year.

Five company directors were given jail or suspended jail sentences in 2007. However, employers who receive fines are usually only looking at penalties of a few thousand dollars, which critics argue fail to act as a potent deterrent.

Lawmaker Lau Chin-shek also pointed out that despite Labour Tribunal orders forcing bosses to pay staff, many were simply failing to do so.

'This is their (workers') legal right, and if they are not able to get their awards, what is the point of the Labour Tribunal?' he said.

Legislator Kwong Chi-kin noted: 'Unscrupulous employers have been able to do whatever they want but the administration is at its wit's end to know what to do about it.'

The Labour Advisory Board has considered proposing legislation that would make it criminal to ignore rulings of the Labour Tribunal.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam said all the proposals of lawmakers had been taken on board and if there was a need to amend legislation, it would be considered in next year's Legislative Council session.

He said the government was also exploring effective ways to improve the situation where bosses fail to honour Labour Tribunal orders.

In 2006, the maximum penalty for wage offences increased from a fine of HK$200,000 (S$35,000) and imprisonment for a year to a fine of HK$350,000 and three years' imprisonment. The highest fine recorded in 2007 was HK$114,000.

In one of the more high-profile cases where a company failed to pay wages, Sing Pao Newspaper Company was in January fined HK$42,000 for failing to pay HK$81,000 in wages it owed three employees.

In April the company averted court action to close it down after management agreed to pay outstanding Mandatory Provident Fund payments. The MPF Schemes Authority said it would wind up the company unless it cleared defaulted payments of HK$4.2 million.

This article was first published in The Business Times on Jun 6, 2008