Managerial staff 'lose right' to wage fund
EMPLOYEES whose annual income exceeds $169,000 risk losing their right to salary owed if their employers become bankrupt, according to a legislator.
Unionist legislator Lee Cheuk-yan said a procedure requiring the Legal Aid Department to issue a petition for bankruptcy in order to verify applications for the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund screened out those who earned more than $169,000 a year.
'With increasing numbers of managerial staff losing jobs, the Legal Aid Department can and should write a letter on their behalf to facilitate application,' Mr Lee said after meeting department representatives yesterday.
Employees of a wound-up company who pass the Legal Aid Department means test are now entitled to access to the fund, which covers wages in arrears, severance pay and payment in lieu of notice.
Meanwhile, the Asian Migrant Co-ordinating Body yesterday condemned calls to lower wages of foreign domestic workers as 'discriminatory, anti-woman and racist'.
It said savings accrued from proposed wage reductions, between $772 and $1,360 a month, 'will not significantly improve the economic situation of individual employers and families'.
Instead, it would hamper maids' buying power and hurt retail sales in Hong Kong, it said.
