The Labour Department secured 960 convictions for wage offences last year, up 22% on 2006, and 126 against responsible persons of companies, up 83%.

The department told legislators today vigorous enforcement deters wage offences and reduces the incidence of defaulted Labour Tribunal awards. As an administrative measure it has suspended the provision of free recruitment services to employers defaulting on tribunal awards.

While it has given priority attention to the enforcement of tribunal awards, the department said the industry has forward improvement proposals. They include:

* making non-compliance of tribunal awards a crime;

* imposing punitive surcharges on defaulting employers;

* relaxing or waiving the means test of legal aid for staff seeking to file winding-up or bankruptcy petitions against defaulting employers, or granting discretionary power to the Director of Legal Aid to waive the means test for such staff;

* waiving or reducing the execution cost for bailiff services for staff with defaulted tribunal awards;

* empowering the tribunal to make an order requiring the defaulting employer to reveal their financial details;

* extending the coverage of the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund to defaulted sums awarded by the tribunal; and,

* conducting an overall review of enforcement of court judgment in civil cases.

In view of the problem of non-compliance with tribunal awards the Labour Advisory Board agreed the department should further examine these options.