Agency associate fined $3,000 for overcharging FDH

One Mong Kong Road Commercial Centre, where the HK Employment Agencies Administration (EAA) holds office. (Photo: Google Maps)

The Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts yesterday (October 14) fined an associate of an employment agency licensee for overcharging a foreign domestic worker, the Labour Department (LD) said.

In a press statement, the LD said the tribunal convicted the associate of the licensee of Best Ka Hei Employment Agency, which is in Kowloon City, of overcharging and was ordered to pay a fine of $3,000.

Under HK labor rules, employment agencies can charge foreign domestic workers only up to 10 percent of their first month salary.

The LD said an FDH filed a complaint against Best Ka Hei Employment Agency in April 2019 before the Employment Agencies Administration (EAA) about the “excessive commission” that the associate asked from her.

The LD said the it decided to prosecute the associate after an investigation revealed sufficient evidence to prove overcharging.

The department reminded employment agencies to operate in full compliance with the law and the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies at all times. Failure to do so may lead to prosecution and/or revocation of licence.

It noted that the Employment Ordinance was amended on February 9, 2018, raising the maximum penalty for overcharging job seekers to a fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years.

For enquiries or complaints about unlicensed operation or overcharging by EAs, please call the EAA of the LD at 2115 3667, or visit its office at Unit 906, 9/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, 1 Mong Kok Road, Kowloon.

In its 2019 Trafficking in Persons report, the US State Department said the LD secured the conviction of 10 employment agencies—three for overcharging workers and seven for other offenses—from April 2018 to March 2019. In 2017, the LD secured the conviction of 11 agencies.

“In addition, from January through March 2019, the government sought charges against 51 employment agencies for overcharging fees and 10 for unlicensed operations,” the US report said.

It said five of these charges were filed against the directors or staff of unlicensed employment agencies.

However, the report quoted NGOs as saying that the fines and penalties given to employment agencies exploiting foreign domestic workers “were too light and did not act as a deterrent for unscrupulous employment agencies that observers reported perpetuate debt bondage.”

“Despite having the legal discretion to revoke agency licenses administratively, the EAA (Employment Agencies Administration) over-relied on criminal convictions of agencies to do so,” the report said.

The government required employment agencies to comply with a Code of Practice for Employment Agencies. The Labour Department cited non-compliance with the code in decisions to revoke or reject the renewal of licenses of 11 employment agencies in 2018.

“Despite these efforts, some employment agencies reportedly continued to operate—and unlawfully retain workers’ passports with impunity—after losing their licenses, sometimes reopening under a different name,” the report said.

“In addition, despite being a violation of the code of practice, observers reported money lenders and employment agencies often operated at the same address without consequence,” it added.