Hong Kong labour secretary tells DSC workers their boss must declare insolvency before they can get paid

After workers at defunct retailer DSC marched to the government’s headquarters in Admiralty to demand expedited recovery of their unpaid salaries, the secretary for labour and welfare reiterated the government's desire for the company’s founder and boss Hui Ming-shun to declare himself insolvent.

The secretary, Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said Hui must do so before the Labour Department could offer assistance to the employees. But he said the government would begin the process of deciding how much money each employee is owed.

His comments came after he met with about 70 employees of the electronics and furniture retailer today. The meeting followed the march by staff members, in which they called on the government to speed up the process of recovering their salaries.

“This morning we contacted the lawyer of Mr Hui to demand him to sign a declaration of insolvency and to determine as soon as possible the amount of money he owed to his employees,” Cheung said.

“Once we receive Mr Hui’s declaration, the Labour Department will help the employees to apply for legal aid to petition to wind up the company.”

READ MORE: Boss of collapsed Hong Kong retail chain DSC and wife arrested on return from Macau

In the meantime, Cheung said, the department would start the process of ascertaining how much money employees were entitled to receive from the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, with a maximum of HK$289,000 per person.