Bus company boss taken to court for overdue salaries

DRIVERS from two private bus companies who took their employer to court for non-payment of salaries will finally get their money, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said yesterday.

Tired of waiting for their pay cheques, the 11 drivers had taken their cases separately to MOM between 2003 and 2005.

The ministry's Labour Court heard their claims and ordered Paya Lebar Transit and A'Land Express to pay the salaries, including to those whose contracts had been terminated.

But both companies ignored the Labour Court's orders, and the MOM charged them with infringing the Employment Act.

The companies were fined more than $36,000 and their boss, Madam Ong Chau Keok, a total of $4,000. The money paid by the firms will be used to pay the drivers' salaries.

If Madam Ong had not paid the fines, she could have been jailed for up to two months.

She was the director of A'Land Express, which owed seven workers salaries for between one and 18 months - amounting to $26,232.

Paya Lebar Transit Services, which she owned, had not paid four of its former bus drivers for between three and five months - a total of $10,484.

Contacted by The Straits Times yesterday, Madam Ong said she was unable to pay her drivers because business was bad.

'We lost a lot of money during the Sars crisis. I tried to pay some of them a little at a time,' she said.

A check by this newspaper found that the offices of both companies, at Parklane Shopping Mall in Selegie and Balestier Complex, had been vacated.

The MOM said yesterday that the Employment Act states that all employers must pay staff salaries within seven days of the salary period or within three days if services are terminated.

If claims for unpaid salaries turn up before the Labour Court, employers should make sure they comply with its orders. Not doing so could lead to criminal proceedings, the ministry said.

Directors, managers and even secretaries of companies can be prosecuted if they are found to be responsible for not paying employee salaries.

Employers found guilty can be fined up to $1,000 or imprisoned up to six months, or both for each offence.