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Rachel Leung

A recruitment agency owned by acclaimed Hong Kong film director Alfred Cheung Kin-ting has been accused of failing to pay the wages of at least 30 English teachers working at dozens of kindergartens.
One instructor said Dramatic English still owed wages from half a year ago. Others said the money paid was different to the amount stated in their contracts.
A company owner confirmed salaries had been transferred late but laid the blame with the schools, saying some had delayed settling payments.
In business since 2003, Dramatic English has 50 full-time educators working at nearly 100 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, as well as tertiary institutions. It also has staff teaching English through drama at international kindergartens and its own centres. It was understood about 30 teachers at 30 schools had been affected, some from overseas.

Company records show Dramatic English is wholly owned by DE Holdings, of which movie maestro turned educator Cheung is the director. Cheung is also the chairman of Dramatic English, best known for teaching the language using drama.
One teacher said late wage payments had been a problem for months.
“Payday fluctuates – it would be the first of the month then it would be postponed to the seventh or maybe a couple of weeks later, so we never really know when we’ll get paid,” an instructor said on the condition of anonymity.
That teacher was still owed two months’ salary, he said.
“We keep getting paid late and having to push them for our money. We cannot live like this.”
Another said the agency had been stalling payments since spring last year. About 30 teachers have set up a chat group on messaging platform WhatsApp to discuss the issue.
In email exchanges from December seen by the Post, company chief executive Luke Yick Tak-ming told those affected the late payments were because the agency had yet to receive its money from the schools.
At 19, he left Britain to volunteer as an English teacher for migrants at Thai-Myanmar border, and he’s never looked back
“We have tried our very best to collect payment but we are a little behind again. The sum we have gathered is not enough to pay our November salaries as of today,” Yick wrote on December 4.
“I will need your help to wait until this weekend to cash in your cheques. I would like to reassure everyone that the company can pay your salaries when the schools you are serving can pay.
“The lingering problem … is that I have very low reserves.”
Speaking to the Post at the weekend, Yick admitted the situation had worsened in the past three months with the firm’s cash reserves reduced to a “miserable level”, he added.
“We have no choice but to implement a policy whereby these teachers are paid when their corresponding schools have cleared the payment.
“I feel so sorry for them … I am still trying my best to manage the situation.”
However, a kindergarten working with Yick’s firm for more than two years said the payment delays were down to administrative errors by the agency.
“We pay Dramatic English monthly. We give them a record of the number of hours worked by each teacher at the beginning of every month, and we always pay within three to five days of receiving their payment slips,” a representative of Ling Liang Church kindergartens said.
“But since late last year, the invoices have started to come in later and later, sometimes with mistakes, which we have to clarify with its accounting department before we can send in our cheques. The more mistakes and delays there are, the longer the process takes.”
The kindergarten group said it had reached out to Dramatic English when it started receiving complaints from teachers about the unpaid wages in February.
Another school operator, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, also weighed in.
“According to the service agreement … payment will be processed upon receipt of the invoice after completion of a month’s service. Based on the group’s records, payments for March 2019 and before were completely settled within 30 days of the service,” a spokesman said.
However, the operator told the Post there were occasional delays in some payments due to miscalculations of the amount by the agency or oversight by its staff.
“We have been following up with the agency on the situation since we were first told about the issue by an individual teacher recently. We were then informed that they are handling the payment issue, but a clear response from the agency has not been received so far.”
The classes in question were being taught as normal, the spokesman added.
Hong Kong’s labour law prohibits delaying wage payments by more than seven days. Employers who fail to pay on time are liable to a fine of HK$350,000 (US$45,000) and three years’ imprisonment.
But Yick’s teachers said they were tired of chasing the agency.
“Sometimes they claim to have already paid us when they haven’t, because we see nothing has gone through to our bank accounts,” one said.
“It’s tiring having to fight for the wages we worked hard for, month after month. I have to pay rent and this has affected my relationship with my landlord.”


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Education

Hong Kong teachers forced to fight for wages at film director Alfred Cheung’s recruitment agency Dramatic English

The offices of Dramatic English in Tai Kok Tsui. Photo: Edmond So

Interior of Dramatic English in Tai Kok Tsui. 26APR19 SCMP / Edmond So

News

Hong Kong

Company owned by acclaimed moviemaker has staff fuming over late payments, but chief executive lays blame at feet of schools


Company owned by acclaimed moviemaker has staff fuming over late payments, but chief executive lays blame at feet of schools.


Education in Hong Kong