Three Vietnamese former employees of Leisure Clothing worked more than 14 hours a day, sometimes for seven days a week, and their contract stipulated that the wages owed to them would only be paid after their contract expired, a court heard today.

The case, which is unrelated to the recent investigation into claims of human trafficking and sweatshop practices, was instituted by Thi Thu Tran, Thi Cam Van and Van Ngu Tran against Leisure Clothing officials Han Bin, Jia Liu and Zang Hang Cuan. They are claiming that they are owed some €50,000 in wages and overtime.

Antoine Grech, on officer from the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations, told the court that the three Vietnamese were employed at Leisure clothing from November 2013 to July 2014. For the first couple of months they worked from Monday till Sunday then they shifted to a six-day week, taking Saturdays off. They worked from 7am to 9.30pm and had a one hour and 15 minute break. The three foreign nationals said they were only paid €600 for the eight months they worked at the Bulebel factory.

Mr Grech said he had met CEO Han Bin, who had told him that the company gave pay slips to its employees but kept their money in a safe deposit box. He claimed that the employees would sign a form if they needed cash but had failed to provide any such documents to the department. He had also contested that the employees were working any overtime.

DIER had also requested employee timesheets, but these were never produced by the company. The witness also noted that the company had a collective agreement which was negotiated by the General Workers Union in 2005. The agreemetn covered all employees - Maltese and foreign. The agreement was valid for three years and he was not sure if it had been renewed.

The former employees had signed their contract in Vietnam but had never been given a copy. It was a definite contract that stipulated that they would be paid their salaries once it expired.

Lawyer Pio Valletta, who is representing Leisure Clothing, asked the DIER official if he was aware that the contract terms would no longer stand if the employees abandoned the contract.

Mr Grech confirmed that this was the case but that did not mean that their wages should be deducted. When asked if he was basing his arguments on any documents he had seen, Mr Grech said he was not since the employees had not been given copies of any document.

At one point, Police Superintendent Dennis Theuma asked the court to give the police more time to conclude the investigation on Leisure Clothing and thus be able to present more evidence but Magistrate Carol Peralta said the case he was hearing has nothing to do with alleged human trafficking or worker exploitation. The case before him is on claims by these three former employees that the company had failed to pay them.

Dr Valletta said the case instituted by the three Vietnamese had nothing to do with the ongoing investigation. He also said the company was disgusted by the way the ongoing investigation is being reported in the media, which, he claimed, was going overboard. He also said he knew who had leaked the story to the media and said the truth would come out in time.

Lawyer Karl Briffa is appearing for the Vietnamese nationals.