Employee compensation is payable in the case of an off-duty factory manager who died in a car crash in Shenzhen as the accident happened in the course of his work, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.
The three judges found that the Employees' Compensation Ordinance applied to Hui Pak-sang, 28, who worked for Hong Kong company Lung Cheong Toys Ltd as production manager at one of its factories in Dongguan, Guangdong province.
Under his employment contract, he was put up in Dongguan during the week at the company's expense.
At the end of the week, he was brought to Shenzhen from Dongguan by bus.
However, there was an agreement that if he worked overtime, and was unable to get the bus to Shenzhen, he could hire a taxi.
The court heard that on August 26, 1995, Hui had to accompany some Japanese customers around two factories in Dongguan and had missed the company bus. He died after his taxi hit a road marker in the suburbs of Shenzhen.
