The labour and welfare secretary on Sunday said it is only a matter of time until former employees of Physical Fitness get their wages and severance payments after the gym chain closed its doors on September 6.

Speaking to reporters after an event, Chris Sun said the Labour Department had received requests for help from about 670 employees. He said they are all eligible to apply to the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (PWIF) for help with unpaid remuneration.

"We are trying our very best, to persuade the employer of Physical Fitness, [to] declare that they are unable to pay. So if this statement can be signed, it will speed up the whole process, so the 600 odd employees, they will get payment under the PWIF in a very speedy manner," Sun said.

"In the event that this statement is not available, there is an established procedure: we have to go through the labour tribunal and we have to file a petition to the court, so it takes a bit more time," he added.

He reminded former Physical employees who are considering signing a new contract with the "HEALTHY" gym, which now operates at the former Wan Chai branch of Physical Fitness, to pay attention to the contract terms and sort out the arrangements for unpaid wages.

Separately, the Consumer Council's chief executive Gilly Wong urged the gym chain's members to wait before signing agreements with "HEALTHY", as the terms and conditions were "unclear".

"According to our past experiences, former members might not be able to receive the same service even if a new operator steps in, such as how many stores are available, whether they changed their operating hours," Wong said on a TV programme.

She added that consumer complaints towards the fitness industry had declined in the past few years due to changes in their business model, such as opening for 24 hours and allowing members to pay monthly, but the industry could review their own polices and services rather than waiting on government regulations to implement a cooling-off period.

The consumer watchdog has received almost 4,000 complaints about Physical Fitness so far, with around 40 of them having signed contracts one to three days before the chain's closure.