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Last updated on: July 22nd, 2024

Hours & Pay Regulations

Normal Working Hours

There are no statutory provisions that prescribe the maximum working hours. It is based on an agreement between the employer and the employee.

 

Recording Requirements – Every employer must always keep a record of the wage and employment history of each employee covering the period of their employment during the preceding 12 months. In case of termination of employment, such records shall be kept for at least 6 months after ceasing employment. They shall keep the following records:

    • name and identity card number;
    • date of commencement of employment;
    • job title;
    • wages paid in respect of each wage period;
    • wage period;
    • date of termination of employment (if applicable).
    • period of notice required for termination of contract;
    • total number of hours worked in each wage period (if applicable*);
    • wage period;
    • periods of annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, and holidays entitled and taken, together with details of payments made in respect of such periods.

Overtime

There is no law in Hong Kong establishing a standard workday or workweek, setting a maximum number of work hours or requiring payment of overtime. Such matters may be negotiated between the employer and the employee.

Breaks

The law does not define a period. Usually, a 1-hour meal break is available for full-time employees.

 

Weekly Rest Day – An employee shall be entitled to not less than 1 rest day in every period of 7 days.

Definition of a Rest Day – A rest day is defined as a continuous period of not less than 24 hours during which an employee is entitled to abstain from working for his employer.

Whether a rest day is paid or not is to be agreed upon by employers and employees.

Eligibility for Rest Day

An employee employed under a continuous contract is entitled to not less than 1 rest day in every period of 7 days. Rest days shall be designated by the employer. They may be granted on a regular or irregular basis in the following manner:

      • Regular rest days- The employer should inform the employees of the arrangement.
      • For irregular rest days – Before the beginning of each month, the employer must inform his employees orally or in writing of the appointed rest days or by displaying a roster showing the dates of the appointed rest days for each employee. 

Whether a rest day is paid or not is to be agreed upon by employers and employees.

     

    Compulsory Work on Rest Day – An employer must not compel an employee to work on a rest day except in the event of a breakdown of machinery or plant or any other unforeseen emergency. For any rest day on which the employee is required to work, the employer should substitute some other rest day within 30 days after the original rest day. The employer should notify the employee of the arrangement within 48 hours after the employee is required to work.

    Substitution for Rest Days – An employer may with the consent of the employee substitute some other rest day, in which case it must be within the same month before the original rest day or 30 days after it.

    Rest days on Public holidays – Any rest day provided to an employee is in addition to any statutory, alternative, or substituted holiday allocated to the employee.

    Offences and Penalties – An employer who without reasonable excuse fails to grant rest days to his employees is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of $50,000. An employer who compels his employees to work on their rest days is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of $50,000. Sec 17 – 20, Employment Ordinance.

    Work On Rest Days

    Work Performed on Rest Day – The employer should substitute some other rest day within 30 days after the original rest day.

     

    Compulsory Work on Rest Days – An employer must not compel an employee to work on a rest day except in the event of a breakdown of machinery or plant or any other unforeseen emergency. For any rest day on which the employee is required to work, the employer should substitute some other rest day within 30 days after the original rest day. The employer should notify the employee of the arrangement within 48 hours after the employee is required to work.

    Public Holidays

    An employee is entitled to the following 13 days of Statutory Holidays :
        • First weekday of January;
        • Lunar New Year’s Day;
        • The second day of Lunar New Year;
        • The third day of Lunar New Year;
        • Ching Ming Festival;
        • Labour Day – May 1;
        • The Birthday of Buddha, being the eighth day of the fourth lunar month
        • Tuen Ng Festival;
        • Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day – July 1;
        • The day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival;
        • Chung Yeung Festival;
        • National Day – October 1;
        • Chinese Winter Solstice Festival or Christmas Day (at the option of the employer) – December 25.

    General Holidays

    In addition to the statutory holidays, Hong Kong has 5 additional general holidays which must be kept as holidays by all banks, educational establishments, public offices, and Government departments namely:-

          • Good Friday;
          • The day following Good Friday;
          • Easter Monday;
          • Christmas Day and
          • The first weekday after Christmas.

    These General Holidays do not require an employer to make payment of holiday pay on these general holidays. General Holiday Ordinance (Cap 149).

     

    When either Lunar New Year’s Day, the second day of the Lunar New Year, or the third day of the Lunar New Year falls on a Sunday, the fourth day of the Lunar New Year is designated as a statutory holiday in substitution; and if the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival falls on a Sunday, the day thereafter (i.e. the 17th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar) is designated as a statutory holiday in substitution.

     

    Holiday Pay – An employee having been employed under a continuous contract for not less than 3 months is entitled to the holiday pay which is equivalent to the daily average wages earned by the employee in the 12-month period preceding the holiday. Holiday pay should be paid to the employee not later than the day on which they are next paid the wages after that statutory holiday. If an employee is employed for less than 12 months, the calculation shall be based on the shorter period.

     

    Regardless of whether an employee is entitled to statutory holiday pay, the employer must not make any form of payment to the employee in lieu of granting a holiday, or the so-called “holiday buy-out”.

    Work on Holiday – An alternative holiday should be arranged within 60 days before or after the statutory holiday. Prior Notice to Employees on the Date of Alternative Holiday should be given 48 hrs prior. An employer must not make any form of payment to the employee in lieu of granting a holiday.

    Compensatory Rest – If the employer and employee agree, any day within 30 days before or after the statutory or alternative holiday may be taken by the employee as a substituted holiday.
    A Statutory Holiday Falling on a Rest Day – If a statutory holiday falls on a rest day, the employee shall grant a holiday on the next working day which is not a statutory holiday an alternative holiday a substituted holiday, or a rest day; if an employer requires the employee to work on a statutory holiday, the employer shall arrange for the employee an alternative holiday or the so-called “replacement holiday”.

    Restriction on Pay in Lieu of Holiday – Regardless of whether an employee is entitled to holiday pay, an employer should grant his employee a statutory holiday, or arrange an “alternative holiday” or “substituted holiday”. An employer must not make any form of payment to the employee in lieu of granting a holiday. In other words, a “buyout” of a holiday is not allowed.

    Offences and Penalties – An employer who without reasonable excuse fails to grant statutory holidays, alternative holidays, or substituted holidays, or fails to pay holiday pay to an employee is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of $50,000.

    Timing of payment – An employee shall be paid holiday pay no later than the day on which he/she is entitled to be paid wages after that statutory holiday.

    Annual Leave

    Employees are entitled to a minimum of 7 to 14 days of statutory annual leave for each period of 12 months of employment. Employers are entitled to determine when annual leave shall be taken and must give 14 days prior notice in writing to the employee of the time that they have selected. Annual leaves shall be calculated on the basis of length of service as follows:

      • At least 1 year but less than 3 years – 7 days of leaves
      • At least 3 years but less than 4 years – 8 days of leaves
      • At least 4 years but less than 5 years – 9 days of leaves
      • At least 5 years but less than 6 years – 10 days of leaves
      • At least 6 years but less than 7 years – 11 days of leaves
      • At least 7 years but less than 8 years – 12 days of leaves
      • At least 8 years but less than 9 years – 13 days of leaves
      • At least 9 years – 14 days of leave.

    Timing of vacation – An employee shall take the paid annual leave to which he is entitled within the following period of 12 months. The time of the leave should be appointed by the employer after consultation with the employee or his representative, confirmed by written notice to the employee at least 14 days in advance unless a shorter period has been mutually agreed.

     

    Granting of Annual Leave – Paid annual leave should be granted for an unbroken period. If the employee so requests, it may be granted in the following manner:
        • Leave entitlement not exceeding 10 days – up to 3 days can be granted separately; the balance should be granted consecutively.
        • Leave entitlement exceeding 10 days – at least 7 days should be granted consecutively 
    Annual Leave coinciding with Public Holiday or Rest Day – Any rest day or statutory holiday falling within a period of annual leave will be counted as annual leave and another rest day or holiday must be appointed. 

    Annual leave must, however, be granted within 12 months of the end of the leave year, although in practice, most employers allow annual leave to be taken as it accrues. 

     

    A “leave year” may either be the anniversary of the employee’s commencement of employment or such other date as the employer may elect so as to use a common leave year for all employees, such as a calendar year.

     

    Annual Leave Pay

    The daily rate of annual leave pay is a sum equivalent to the average daily wages earned by an employee in the 12-month period preceding the leave. If an employee is employed for less than 12 months, the calculation shall be based on the shorter period.

     

    NOTE: In calculating the average daily wages, an employer has to exclude:

            • The periods for which an employee is not paid his wages, shall include a rest day, statutory holiday, annual leave, sickness day, maternity leave, paternity leave, sick leave due to work injuries, or leave taken with the agreement of the employer, and any normal working day on which the employee is not provided by the employer with work; together with;
            • The sum paid to the employee for such periods.

       

      Timing of payment – Holiday pay should be paid to the employee not later than the normal payday after the period of annual leave taken. 

       

      Restriction on Pay in lieu of Leave – An employee may choose to accept payment in lieu of the part of his leave entitlement that exceeds 10 days. 

       

      Common Leave Year – An employer may elect any period of 12 consecutive months as the common leave year for all of his employees. Should the employer wish to make this arrangement, they shall give  1  month’s notice either to each of their employees in writing or by posting a notice in a conspicuous place in the place of employment.  If an employee has not been employed for 12 months in the common leave year, the employer should calculate the leave entitlement on a pro-rata basis, and any fraction of a day resulting from the calculation should be counted as a full day’s leave. 

       

      Annual Leave Shutdown – If an employer intends to close down the business or part of the business to grant annual leave to employees, the employer should inform the affected employees in writing at least one month in advance.  Where an employee is not yet entitled to paid annual leave in respect of any day during the period of the shutdown but has to stop work as a result, the employee should be granted paid annual leave during that whole period.  If the annual leave an employee is entitled to exceed the number of days of shutdown, the employee may take the remaining annual leave immediately following the shutdown. 

       

      Payment of Annual Leave Pay on Termination of Employment Contract

      A leave year means any period of 12 months commencing on the day on which his employment commenced and an anniversary of such day.

       

      An employee whose employment is terminated is entitled to payment in lieu of any annual leave not yet taken. An employee who has 3 but less than 12 months of employment in a leave year and is terminated is entitled to pro rata annual leave pay. Sec 41AA – 41G, Employment Ordinance.

      Special Leave

      Sick Leave

      Duration of Sick Leave: Employees received paid sickness days after having been employed under continuous contracts.

          • An employee is entitled to receive sick leave at the rate of 2 working days per month for each completed month of employment during the first 12 months of employment.
          • 4 working days for each completed month of employment after one year of employment.


        Eligibility Criteria: An employee employed under a continuous contract is entitled to sickness allowance if the following conditions are fulfilled:

            • The sick leave taken is not less than 4 consecutive days (unless for any day off taken by a female employee for her pregnancy check-ups, post-confinement medical treatment, or miscarriage, any such day on which she is absent shall be counted as a sickness day and, subject to the following conditions, be paid sickness allowance);
            • The employee has accumulated a sufficient number of paid sick days.


          Sick Leave Pay: The daily rate of sickness allowance is a sum equivalent to four-fifths of the average daily wages earned by an employee in the 12-month period preceding the leave. If an employee is employed for less than 12 months, the calculation shall be based on the shorter period.

          Timing of payment – Sickness allowance should be paid to the employee not later than the normal payday.

           

          Medical Certificate – The sick leave is supported by –

              • an appropriate medical certificate (regarding an employee’s medical examination in relation to her pregnancy, which may also be supported by a certificate of attendance apart from a medical certificate); or
              • regarding the absence from work of an employee by reason of his / her compliance with a specific anti-epidemic requirement with a movement restriction imposed under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, the employee is required to produce proof of such requirement.


            Electronic Sick Leave Certificate: All medical certificates issued by the Hospital Authority (HA) will have a digital signature instead of a traditional manual signature and be issued electronically. The HA encourages patients to opt for the e-sick leave certificate but for the time being, they will continue to print the e-sick leave certificate for patients.

            There are no statutory requirements for the storage of electronic records specifically. Employers should continue to maintain clear and updated records for all their employees, noting the requirement under the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) (“EO”) for employers to keep a record of the sickness days of all their employees.

             

            Timing of Providing Sick Leave Certificate: Paid sickness days are divided into two categories-

            Category One – 36 Days – supported by a medical certificate issued by a registered medical practitioner, a registered Chinese medicine practitioner or a registered dentist.

            Category Two – 84 Days – When the sickness days taken exceed the number of paid sickness days remaining in Category One. A medical certificate* issued by a registered medical practitioner, registered Chinese medicine practitioner or registered dentist attending the employee as an out-patient or in-patient in a hospital should be produced

             

            Accrual of Sick Leave: Paid sickness days can be accumulated throughout the whole employment period, but shall not exceed 120 days at any one time. Sec 33 – 37, Employment Ordinance.

            Special Leave

            Special Leave with pay may be granted in certain circumstances, such as the –

                    • an employee is entitled to 2 days of paid leave for the birth of a child,
                    • an employee is entitled to 10 days of paid leave for marriage purposes
                    • an employee is entitled to 3 days of paid leave in case of death of a relative,
                    • an employee is entitled to paid leave to attend an examination in secondary or university education for 2 days for each examination with a ceiling of 10 days per year.
            Maternity Leave
            Duration of Maternity Leave – An employee will be entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave. An additional period of leave for up to 4 weeks may be taken on the grounds of illness or disability due to the pregnancy or delivery.

            A pregnant employee with the agreement of their employer may decide to commence their maternity leave from 2 to 4 weeks before the expected date of delivery. If the employee does not decide on the date or fails to secure their employer’s agreement, the employee shall commence her maternity leave 4 weeks before the expected date of delivery.

            Early Birth – Maternity leave commences on the date of delivery if it occurs before the scheduled maternity leave.

            Eligibility Criteria – Female employees must have been continuously employed with the same employer for at least 40 weeks immediately before the commencement of scheduled maternity leave.

            In cases where the delivery occurs later than the expected date of delivery, employees are entitled to a further period equal to the number of days from the day after the expected delivery date to the actual date of delivery. An additional period of leave for not more than 4 weeks on the grounds of illness or disability due to the pregnancy or delivery is also granted to employees.

            Pay – An employee is eligible for maternity leave pay at their regular rate of pay.

            In case the length of employment service under a continuous contract is less than 40 weeks immediately before the commencement of scheduled maternity leave, the employee is eligible for 14 weeks of maternity leave without pay if the employee has given notice of pregnancy and their intention to take maternity leave to their employer after the pregnancy has been confirmed.

            Notification Requirement- A female employee must notify their employer about their pregnancy and present a medical certificate confirming their pregnancy and the expected date of their delivery to the employer.
            Miscarriage – A female employee who suffers miscarriage at or after 24 weeks of pregnancy will be entitled to maternity leave to 14 weeks of maternity leave.

            Medical Examination – When the employee’s absence from work to attend a medical examination of their pregnancy, post-delivery medical treatment, or miscarriage is supported by an appropriate medical certificate, any such day on which she is absent shall be counted as a sickness day.
            Offenses and Penalties – An employer who fails to grant maternity leave to a pregnant employee or fails to pay maternity leave pay to an eligible pregnant employee is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of $50,000. Sec 12A – 15C, Employment Ordinance.
            Paternity Leave

            Duration of Paternity Leave- A male employee is entitled to paternity leave of 5 working days of paid leave for childbirth.

             

            Eligibility Criteria – An eligible male employee may take paternity leave at any time during the period from 4 weeks before the expected birth. A male employee is entitled to paternity leave for each childbirth of his spouse/partner if he meets the following conditions:

                            • The employee is the father of a newborn baby or has a baby about to be born;
                            • The employee was employed under a continuous contract (i.e. continuously employed by the same employer for 4 weeks or more and working at least 18 hours per week) before taking paternity leave; and
                            • The employee has notified his employer as required by law.

            Pay Benefit– A male employee is entitled to paternity leave pay if he has been employed under a continuous contract for not less than 40 weeks immediately before the day of paternity leave; and has provided the required document to the employer.

            The daily rate of paternity leave pay is a sum equivalent to four-fifths of the average daily wages earned by an employee in the 12-month period preceding the day of paternity leave. If an employee takes more than one day of paternity leave consecutively, the daily rate of paternity leave pay is a sum equivalent to four-fifths of the average daily wages earned by the employee in the 12-month period preceding the first day of paternity leave.

             

            Notice Requirement- The employee must notify his employer of their intention to take paternity leave at least 3 months before the expected date of delivery of the child (exact date of leave not required at this stage); and the date of his paternity leave before taking the leave. If the employee fails to give the above-mentioned 3 months’ advance notice to the employer, they must notify the employer of his date of paternity leave at least 5 days before that date.

             

            Documentation Requirement – 

              • For birth in Hong Kong: the birth certificate of the child on which the employee’s name is entered as the child’s father.
              • For birth outside Hong Kong: the birth certificate of the child issued by the authorities of the place and on which the employee’s name is entered as the child’s father (or if the authorities of the place do not issue birth certificates, any other document issued by the authorities that could reasonably be taken as proof that the employee is the child’s father). 

            Death of Child – If the baby died at birth or died after birth and therefore does not have a birth certificate, the employee can still enjoy paternity benefits as long as he can produce a medical certificate from the baby’s mother confirming that the baby was born and provide relevant written statements upon the employer’s request.

            Offenses and Penalties – An employer who fails to grant paternity leave or paternity leave pay to an eligible employee is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of $50,000. Sec 15E – 15L, Employment Ordinance.

            Disclaimer: The material provided above is for informational purposes only and is subject to change. We endeavor to keep all material up-to-date and correct but make no representations about the information's completeness, accuracy, or reliability. Laws vary by jurisdiction and are subject to change and interpretation based on individual factors that may differ between organizations. The material is not meant to constitute legal advice and we suggest you seek the advice of legal counsel in connection with any of the information presented.

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