Clause 17

by deleting subsections (1) and (1A) and substituting the following subsections:“(1) Any employer who —

fails, without reasonable cause, to grant maternity leave, in accordance with sections 9 and 9A, to a female employee who is entitled to and requests for such leave;

fails to pay his female employee in accordance with sections 9 and 9A;

fails to pay his female employee in accordance with any provision of sections 77 to 80, 84(1) and 84A(1) of the Employment Act (Cap. 91) as made applicable by section 12;

acts in contravention of section 81 of the Employment Act as made applicable by section 12; or (e)acts in contravention of section 82 of the Employment Act as made applicable by section 12,shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.(1A) Where an employer who is convicted or found guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) is a repeat offender, he shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.(1AA) For the purposes of subsection (1A), a person is a repeat offender in relation to an offence under subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) if the person who is convicted or found guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) (referred to as the current offence) has been convicted or found guilty of —

an offence under subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (e); or

an offence under section 82 or 87(1) of the Employment Act in force before, on or after 1st May 2013,on at least one other occasion on or after 1st May 2013 and before the date on which he is convicted or found guilty of the current offence.”;

by deleting the words “subsection (1)” in subsection (2) and substituting the words “subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d)”; and

by deleting the section heading and substituting the following section heading:“Offences and penalties”.