He never showed up in court, so his ex-employee's wage claim stood unchallenged
A Hong Kong hotpot operator who ignored the case must pay a chef HK$184,903, Deputy District Judge Walker Sham ruled on 7 August 2026.
The District Court awarded the sum in an employee's compensation claim brought under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance after the restaurant operator failed to respond to the proceedings at any stage. Interlocutory judgment on liability had already been entered against the respondent on 17 April 2026, leaving the court to assess only the value of the claim.
The applicant, a chef at the restaurant in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, was instructed to use a chopper to peel garlic on 11 May 2024 and accidentally cut his left index finger. Medical reports tendered to the court described a superficial laceration with some tissue loss near the nail, a small undisplaced crack fracture at the fingertip, and lingering weakness that resolved by 30 August 2024, when the wound healed with a full range of motion. A Form 9 assessment dated 23 July 2025 put his loss of earning capacity at 1.5 percent, a figure that went unappealed.
Because the respondent never appeared, the applicant's account of his own pay went untested. He told the court he earned HK$25,000 a month in cash, with no payslips or contract to back it up, and that he could not recall exactly when he started the job. Judge Sham accepted the figure regardless, noting there was no evidence to the contrary and that, in his...
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