We filed a winding-up petition against Physical Health Centre Hong Kong Limited (“Physical”), for outstanding wages owed to its employees, upon instructions from the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund Board (“Fund Board”) on 6 November 2024.
Physical has been established for over 38 years and is one of the largest and most popular fitness and beauty center brands in Hong Kong, with operations spanning Hong Kong and Mainland China. The complete closure of Physical on 6 September of this year has garnered extensive media coverage and has also attracted significant attention of the Government. To date, it is estimated that nearly 800 employees have been affected.
Under the statutory regime, a bankruptcy or winding-up petition shall be presented against the defaulting employer before the Fund Board processing the release of ex-gratia payments to its victim employees to ease their financial burden pending legal proceedings, unless and until the employers for fear of liquidation settle the outstanding debts that have been long owed to the employees.
As a panel law firm of the Fund Board, we have dealt with over 200 cases in the past two years involving outstanding wages. We take pride in serving the public interest through our specialized insolvency expertise. Equally, we feel obliged to look beyond numbers and to comprehend how we can assist victim employees at times of fierce difficulties.
The Physical case is a public scandal. According to the Labour Department’s announcement, Physical owed outstanding wages and/or other payments to 791 employees. The Labour Department and the Fund Board have been extremely concerned. In the last three months, our team worked closely with the Fund Board, the Labour Department and a large number of the employees concerned to ensure that legal proceedings can be commenced in an effective and timely manner.
The Physical case is led by our Partners Roy Leung and Mathew Liu together with Associate Winnie Hui, and assisted by Associate Shirley Yu, Paralegal (pending admission as solicitor) Sherrie Ma, Trainee Solicitors Tommy Lam, Janice Leung and Jaimie Ho.
Other members of our Litigation Department in charge of cases referred to by the Fund Board include Senior Associate Theresa Law, Associate Koey Wong and Crystal Yip, assisted by Trainee Solicitors Chloe Fan, Andes Leung, Christine Chan and Manson Chan, together with litigation clerks.
