Workers can be personally liable for violations of coming competition law, Hong Kong Competition Commission chief says

The head of the city's competition watchdog has warned that company employees who engage in conduct in violation of the coming competition law will be held personally liable in addition to any liability incurred by employers under the legislation.

"The reality is, even if you're a low-level salesperson, you may be personally liable," said Dr Stanley Wong, chief executive of the Competition Commission.

Wong said violations of the law could be as seemingly innocent as salespeople discussing and agreeing with their competitors on prices, or restricting volumes of goods.

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Wong's warning came as the commission, the statutory body which investigates anti-competition practices, unveiled a toolkit for small and medium-sized enterprises to help them comply with the new law, which will be fully enforced from December 14.

Such companies account for more than 98 per cent of Hong Kong businesses, so Wong said they were a "major focus" of the body's advocacy and engagement plan.

The toolkit, which is available to download online, highlights four kinds of conduct that could be identified as high risk behaviour. These include price fixing, market sharing, output restriction and bid rigging.

There are certain exemptions for some businesses. If a case is not regarded as a serious violation, and the companies involved have a combined turnover of less than HK$200 million, they will not be liable under the first conduct rule in the law which prohibits businesses from making agreements with more than one party to prevent competition.