Hong Kong mother jailed for 3 months for forging child’s birth certificate to allegedly get extra 4 weeks of maternity leave
- Wong Chi-mei pleaded guilty to two counts of using and possessing a false instrument
- The 37-year-old submitted a birth certificate with a fake birthday of her child to her employer
A Hong Kong mother has received a jail sentence of three months for forging her child’s birth certificate to allegedly get an additional four weeks of maternity leave.
Wong Chi-mei, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts of using and possessing a false instrument after she submitted a birth certificate with a fake birthday of her one-year-old child to her employer to allegedly extend her maternity leave.
She was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for each charge at Shatin Magistrates’ Court on Friday, which she will service concurrently. She was granted bail for her sentence appeal.
The Immigration Department said it was the first case of its kind involving the use of a false birth certificate since December 2020, when statutory maternity leave was extended from 10 to 14 weeks.
“On the modified birth certificate, we can see there are erased marks in the field of the child’s birthday. It was changed from December 6 to 11,” said Chan Chi-wai, the Immigration Department’s senior immigration officer, adding that the fake birthday coincided with the day the longer maternity leave took effect.
“We have reasons to believe that the defendant changed the date to meet the legal requirement of getting another four weeks of leave … she was hoping to get extra time off to take care of her child,” Chan said.
The mother submitted the birth certificate to her employer in May last year, who then contacted the Immigration Department after finding it suspicious.
The department investigated the case and arrested the defendant in July last year, where birth records with and without amendments were found.
Using a false instrument is punishable by 14 years’ imprisonment, but sentencing is capped at two years at the magistrates’ courts.
The department said using false documents was a serious offence, urging residents to report any suspicious cases.
Under the employment ordinance, maternity leave pay is to be calculated at four-fifths the daily average of the wages earned by the employee, subject to a cap of HK$80,000 (US$10,191).
Employees who suffer from a miscarriage after 24 weeks of pregnancy are also entitled to the 14 weeks’ leave.