Elderly-home operators arrested over carers' salaries

Jane Cheung

An elderly home licence holder and his 75-year-old female relative were arrested for embezzling the salaries from at least three nonlocal carers, sources said.

Police officers on Tuesday arrested the 49-year-old licence holder in Happy Valley and his relative in Wan Chai on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.

As of last night, the duo were detained at police stations as investigations go on.

Sources said police acted on Labour Department's referral that the duo allegedly embezzled wages from their employees.

It is understood they had asked non-local carers to pay them HK$3,000 to HK$5,000 of "labor fees" from their HK$14,000 monthly salaries stated in their employment contracts.

Sources said police has got in touch with at least three victims from the elderly home.

The arrest came days after unionists held a press briefing and reported to under-secretary for labor and welfare Jonathan Ho Kai-ming that they have received three reports of non-local carers from a subsidized elderly home that their boss asked them to pay him commission and "labor fees."

One of the victims is a mainlander who came to Hong Kong to work as a carer in an elderly home under a non-local labor scheme during Covid.

She said she paid an employment agency 14,800 yuan commission before arriving at the SAR.

But the care home continued to deduct HK$3,150 from her monthly salary as "labor fees."

Meanwhile, lawmaker Frankie Ngan Man-yu yesterday called on authorities to set up a "list of brain-drained industry" so authorities can design policies to address the manpower shortage.

Speaking in a radio program yesterday, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong lawmaker suggested authorities compile the list from data collected by the Audit Commission.

Ngan said industries on the list can be entitled to a short-term employment subsidy to lure local labors within six months.

"But if they're still unable to hire sufficient manpower after six months, the companies should be allowed to bring in non-local labor," he said. "Doing so, we can make sure priorities are given to local workers."

Lingnan University's vice-president and chair professor of comparative policy Joshua Mok Ka-ho told the same program that importing workers can help Hong Kong push forward infrastructure projects.

"The government should also make better mid to long-term policies to address manpower issues. Not only are the construction and logistics industries understaffed, but the business sector is also facing the same problem," he said.

On Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said authorities are working on proposals to fill vacancies in the construction and logistics industries.

Sources said the proposals may include introducing thousands of workers - mostly from the mainland to address an acute manpower shortage that is causing projects to miss deadlines.