Suncity Group make up one-third of all charges of labor violation in Macau

In the preceding legal year, the President of Macau’s Court of Final Appeal submitted 182 cases of minor labor violations to subordinate courts; of these, one-third involved the former junket operator, Suncity Group.

In December 2021, Suncity Group closed all of its Macau VIP rooms in response to the arrest of its CEO, Alvin Chau. As a consequence, several complaints about Suncity workers’ salary recovery were filed with the Macao Court of First Appeal.

During the Judicial Year Opening Ceremony, President Sam Hou Fai said that there were 133% more labor misdemeanor cases in the 2022–2023 judicial year than the year before. The emergence of labor disputes as a consequence of the pandemic’s bad economy or other significant events that led to horrible business situations or closures was the main reason of this surge. Interestingly, around one-third of the total cases were labor disputes involving Suncity Group companies. These Suncity cases mostly dealt with payback for early termination, unpaid salaries, double pay, annual leave, and other labor infractions.

Alvin Chau, the former CEO of Suncity Group, was given an 18-year prison term by the Macau Court of First Instance in January. This sentence was upheld even though the Court of Second Instance had already dismissed a fraud accusation against Chau and several former Suncity workers.

The Court of First Appeal is now considering labor-related matters pertaining to Suncity’s demise. The Court of First Appeal has determined that businesses have failed to pay wages in a number of instances.

Original story by: IAG