The Imperial Palace Hotel being closed down in July 2016
The Court of First Instance has ruled that the Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel – formerly known as New Century Hotel – will be fined MOP4.43 million and will have to make additional financial reparations worth over MOP20.7 million to its former employees.
The Imperial Palace Hotel, which has already ceased operations, has been ordered to pay its former employees their outstanding salaries, as well as compensation for mandatory holidays, annual leave, overtime and severance.
Of the 24 individual cases involving the Imperial Palace Hotel’s violations of labor law, 614 local and non-local workers are thought to have been affected, either directly or indirectly.
The hotel owners, Casino Greek Mythology and Empresa Hoteleira de Macau Lda., along with four members of the company’s board, were fined a combined MOP4.43 million.
The trials took place between March 2016 and October 2017, with the last case’s verdict announced on October 26, 2017.
At a press conference on July 23, 2016, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) director Helena de Senna Fernandes announced that the hotel would be temporarily closed based on “serious administrative irregularities that constitute threats to public safety.”
She stated the measures would take effect that day and be in force for a period of six months, adding that members of the public would be prohibited from entering the premises during that period and that any person to do so would be considered in “violation of an order.”
Senna Fernandes added that the decision was based on a number of unlawful activities at the hotel, such as illegal construction work.
Although many of these infringements have been ongoing for at least two years, MGTO said it had given a deadline to the company responsible for the hotel management to correct these problems and make improvements.
According to the Labor Affairs Bureau (DSAL), the hotel employees were all overseas workers. There were 29 full-time workers, as well as 30 housekeeping staff working on either a part-time or full-time basis.
DSAL deputy director Ng Wai Han said that the department would “communicate with them to understand their needs” and that “besides [protecting] the rights of the workers, we are also concerned with the reemployment of these [people].”
Ng added that hotel staff can also seek assistance at the government helpdesk. JZ
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