聘用不可合法受僱人士的問題 Employing a person not lawfully employable

 聘用不可合法受僱人士的問題

僱主聘用僱員時需留意僱員是否能夠在香港合法工作，否則有機會觸香港法例第115章 《入境條例》第17I條，僱用不可合法受僱的人士乃屬犯罪。

大型連鎖快餐店麥當勞也曾經觸犯這條法例。在HKSAR v McDonald’s Restaurant (Hong Kong) Ltd [1998] HKCU 2218中，麥當勞被控聘用兩名被前僱主解僱的印尼藉家庭傭工。法官認為該兩名員工的外表足以令人懷疑她們並非香港居民，但是麥當勞疏忽地聘用了她們，經理沒有在聘請過程中核對她們的身份證之餘檢視她們的護照，以確定她們能在香港合法工作。

麥當勞在該案中沒有顯示任何意圖聘請非法員工，但是如果僱主被控有意圖地聘用非法勞工時，則可構成刑事罪行。法庭一般視聘用非法勞工為嚴重罪行，可被罰款港幣$350,000及監禁三年。如有需要刑事辯護或法律諮詢，歡迎預約及查詢有關法律費用。

Employing a person not lawfully employable

Employers should be careful when hiring a new employee because you may be committing a serious offence for employers in Hong Kong to employ a person who is lawfully employable contrary to s.17 I of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) (IO).

Even McDonald’s, which is a very large company employing a large number of employee, has once violated the law in Hong Kong. In HKSAR v McDonald’s Restaurant (Hong Kong) Ltd [1998] HKCU 2218, McDonald’s was accused of hiring two Indoneisan females who entered Hong Kong as domestic helpers. McDonald’s hired them negligently when they should have been apparent on their appearances along to be non-Hong Kong residents. The court said the Manger who inspected the identity cards of these two employees should have been alerted then and check their passports to see if they were employable in Hong Kong.

In the McDonald’s case, the company did not show any intention of employing unemployable workers. However, in some instances employers may be alleged to employ them with an intention to violate the law. It is nevertheless a serious offence where offenders shall be liable to a fine of HK$350,000 and to imprisonment for 3 years.

Therefore, it is important for employers to inspect identity cards and passports to ensure that employees are employable under the laws of Hong Kong. Please feel free to contact Mr Lam at 69776708 for appointment and fee quote.