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The most significant and comprehensive piece of legislation regulating conditions of employment in Hong Kong is the Employment Ordinance.
The legislation provides the basic protection to employees including payment of wages, statutory holidays, wage deductions restriction, and many more benefits to all employees in Hong Kong, irrespective of the hours of work done by an employee. The Employment Ordinance safeguards the rights of employees in Hong Kong. In case, any of your employee falls under the ordinance protection, ensure that the employment contract meets the minimum requirements under the Employment Ordinance. The Employment Ordinance applies to all employees, regardless of their nationality with limited exceptions.
There are some other laws as well that are likely to apply to employees, notwithstanding contractual choice of law in the employment contract.
The employer in Hong Kong is responsible to maintain records of the wages paid and employment history of each employee for the previous one year. All the data should be kept at the employer’s place of business or employee’s place of employment, and should be preserved for at least 6 months after the discontinuation of an employment.
As per the Statutory Minimum Wage Ordinance, total sum of hours worked in each wage period must be recorded for the calculation of employee’s minimum wage.
Employees who are employed under a “Continuous Contract of Employment” – enjoys additional benefits such as paid annual leave, sickness allowance and much more.
An employee is considered being employed under a “Continuous Contract of Employment” when he has been working for an employer with minimum of 18 hours per week for not less than 4 weeks. In case of dispute, the employer has to prove that the employment was not continuous.
According to the Employment Ordinance, wages consists of all remunerations, allowances, earnings, service charges, tips, commission and payments for overtime.
It excludes the cost of accommodation, food, fuel, water, education, medical care or electricity provided by the employer, contribution of employer to retirement schemes, end of year payment, gratuity payable, bonus payment, traveling concession and allowances.
In Hong Kong, no employer can deduct wages of their employees except in cases as below:
Employers are bound to pay wages to employees on or before the due date, or within 7 days after it becomes due. An employer should terminate the contract according to its terms if he is unable to pay the wages.
Hong Kong laws has no fixed working hours, except for young person i.e., those below 18 years. Maximum working period for young persons is 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week.
Every employee employed in continuous employment contract, is entitled to one rest day every week or in every period of seven days. One rest day is counted as a period as long as 24 hours during which the employee can be absent from work. Payment for the rest day is subject to the contract.
No employer can force an employee to work on a rest day except in the event of:
The worked rest days should be substituted by the employer with other days.
Continuous employees with more than one year of service are provided with paid annual leave of up to 14 days, subject to tenure of service. Commonly in Hong Kong, increased contractual leave above the statutory minimum are offered by the employers.
In Hong Kong, there are 12 statutory holidays. In case a statutory holiday falls on the same day of a rest day, an alternative holiday be scheduled on the next day which should not be an alternative holiday, a statutory holiday or a rest day.
An employee is eligible for a holiday pay who is under a continuous contract for more than three months.
Both parties must mutually agree to the date for paid annual leave at least fourteen days in prior and should be utilized within 12 months of entitlement.
The daily pay for annual leave is calculated as the sum equal to the average daily wages of an employee in the past twelve months. In case an employee is entitled for more than 10 days of leave, he can “sell” his entitled leave for payment.
If an employer wishes to cease his business for granting annual leave, he must issue written notices at least before 1 month.
A “sickness allowance” up to a maximum of 120 days is given to continuous employees. The employment laws also provide for Paid Sickness Days in addition to Sickness Allowance.
Sickness Allowance is an additional benefit for employee under a continuous contract of employment. A contract of employment cannot be terminated while the employee is on paid sickness leave, but can be terminated for serious misconduct through summary dismissal.
Maternity protection is essentially given