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Cathay Pacific rushes to settle severance pay before weekend deadline

蘋果日報 2020/12/20 06:05


Hong Kong flagship carrier Cathay Pacific scrambled to give axed employees their severance pay ahead of the deadline this weekend, after several staffers complained of being owed their dues for two months. Several employees who were part of mass layoffs announced on Oct. 21 had yet to receive their money by Friday, the last working day of the legal two-month period in which the company was supposed to pay up, Apple Daily reported on the same day.
One employee said he received a bank notification at 2 a.m. on Saturday that the pay had been deposited into his account.
Cathay said it had fully dealt with the severance pay of staff members, in a reply to Apple Daily’s inquiry on Saturday, a day after the report was published.
In October, Cathay laid off 8,500 employees, 5,300 of whom were based in Hong Kong, in a restructuring attempt to stem financial losses amidst the coronavirus pandemic. By law, an employer is required to settle severance payments within two months, or risk a fine of HK$350,000 and three years’ jail.While the actual deadline was on Sunday, staff members had expected to receive payment by Friday, which was the last working day within the legal period.
One former employee, who gave his surname as Chan, acknowledged that he had received his severance pay, but claimed he and several dozens of others were still owed a goodwill payment, which was equivalent to a month’s salary. The company had offered it to those who signed a non-disclosure agreement and had returned company items, according to another insider.
“How can such a big company do such a bad job of firing people? It seems like they are trying to delay the payments on purpose,” Chan said.
They were planning to seek help from the government’s Labor Department, he added. “No one ever picks up the Cathay Pacific hotline and any email replies are useless.”
Another ex-employee, also surnamed Chan, said she had filed complaints to the company but it was hard to follow up the case because most staffers were working from home and difficult to reach. The department told her to expect delays because Cathay had to deal with many employees being made redundant.
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