Hiring agency staff nabbed after giving false claim to employer

Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department headquarters in North Point. (SCREENSHOT: Google Street View)

The Hong Kong Customs on Tuesday arrested a staff member of an employment agency after she supplied false information to a would-be employer of a domestic worker.

The Customs, in a statement, said a female staff member from the unnamed employment agency reportedly told her customer that they would arrange another domestic helper without additional charge if the job application was withdrawn by the domestic helper due to personal reasons.

But the domestic worker the customer hired backed out. The company had reportedly sought to charge additional fees for the arrangement of a new helper, contrary to the staff member’s offer.

The woman, 38, was arrested on suspicion of having applied false trade descriptions to the services supplied by the employment agency , in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO). She had been out on bail pending further investigation.

Customs reminded traders to comply with existing laws. Those found giving false trade descriptions to a service supplied to consumers are committing an offence, subject to a maximum penalty of a HK$500,000 fine and imprisonment for five years.

Members of the public may report any suspected violations of the TDO to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).