Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Wages and arrears

Legal area

Court

27 Feb 2025

LI MIJIANG v. HOILUNG GROUP INTERNATIONAL LTD

Citation

[2025] HKCFI 895
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCLA47/2024

Leave to appeal was granted because the appellant demonstrated arguable grounds that the Deputy Adjudicator failed to investigate three material issues—employment by the Shenzhen company, potential illegality of the contracts, and whether the claimant resigned—such failures engage s20(3) duties and the leave threshold under s32/Mak Wai Man and therefore warrant appellate consideration.
15 Dec 2017

LET’ SPA CO LTD v. CHAN KA MAN CATHERINE

Citation

LET’ SPA CO LTD v. CHAN KA MAN CATHERINE
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCLA21/2017

Leave to appeal was refused because the Presiding Officer did not commit an error of law: his factual findings were supported by admissions and other evidence, no substantial injustice resulted from reliance on a witness who had briefly been unwell, and the contractual clauses in issue were correctly characterized as penal and unenforceable; therefore the awards were not erroneous in point of law and had no reasonable prospect of success on appeal.
16 Feb 2017

REYES JORNALYN MAY TABUNAR v. YAN KAM WAH AND ANOTHER

Citation

REYES JORNALYN MAY TABUNAR v. YAN KAM WAH AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCLA45/2015

Leave to appeal was refused because the 2nd defendant failed to show arguable grounds of appeal — the Presiding Officer's factual findings (that D2 was the actual employer and that the alleged injury did not establish constructive dismissal) were within the range of reasonable conclusions and did not disclose legal error — and because the applicant failed to prosecute the leave application diligently (unexplained delay and failure to seek timely listing) and attempted to raise a counterclaim at review stage, which amounted to abuse of process.
20 Jan 2017

SIT ANDREW v. OTS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LTD

Citation

SIT ANDREW v. OTS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LTD
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCLA20/2016

The Presiding Officer’s factual finding that the appellant agreed to the pay reduction was open on the evidence (witness testimony and contemporaneous emails) and supported by appellant’s initial acceptance of reduced pay; no error of law or jurisdiction was established, therefore leave to appeal was properly refused.
19 Mar 2014

AXELBANK ERNEST v. ARTIFICIAL LIFE ASIA LTD

Citation

AXELBANK ERNEST v. ARTIFICIAL LIFE ASIA LTD
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCLA15/2013

Leave to appeal is refused on grounds that the Tribunal's factual findings and its refusal to transfer the dispute were within jurisdiction and not arguable; leave to appeal is granted solely on an arguable error of law that the Tribunal may have wrongly included years of overseas employment under non‑Hong Kong contracts in calculating long service payment without evidence of transfer of business or other justification.
14 May 1985

WAN HO AND ANOTHER v. CHAN YING KAU AND OTHERS

Citation

WAN HO AND ANOTHER v. CHAN YING KAU AND OTHERS
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCLA33/1984

The Presiding Officer's findings that the 1st and 2nd defendants operated the restaurant as owners and remained the employers were supported by the evidence; there was no valid notice or consent effecting transfer of employees to the incorporated company on 16 May 1980, so employment continued with the defendants and they remained liable for wage arrears, annual leave pay and severance; admissions were personal; therefore the appeal was dismissed.

Hong Kong Case Law

LI MIJIANG v. HOILUNG GROUP INTERNATIONAL LTD

LET’ SPA CO LTD v. CHAN KA MAN CATHERINE

REYES JORNALYN MAY TABUNAR v. YAN KAM WAH AND ANOTHER

SIT ANDREW v. OTS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LTD

AXELBANK ERNEST v. ARTIFICIAL LIFE ASIA LTD

WAN HO AND ANOTHER v. CHAN YING KAU AND OTHERS