The heaviest sentence ever imposed on a wage-defaulting employer has been meted out by Eastern Magistracy, which jailed an advertising company boss for two months today. Permanent Secretary for Economic Development & Labour Matthew Cheung welcomed the judgment.

Kong Wai-lung employed seven youngsters from September to December in 2002 to conduct telephone surveys. They were each owed wages ranging from $2,000 to $3,000 after termination of employment. Kong was also fined for committing wage offences two years ago. As he failed to pay the fine, he was given 28 days jail.

Mr Cheung said the maximum penalty for a wage offence is a $200,000 fine and a year's jail. The Labour Department is proposing to raise it to $350,000 and three years jail.

"We will consult the Labour Advisory Board and the Legislative Council on the proposal soon," he said.

The department employed three veteran Police officers last month to investigate wage offences and reinforce the department's capacity in collecting evidence. The department is recruiting one investigation adviser and three more investigation officers.