Increase in statutory holidays on the Hong Kong horizon
Written By
Partner
China
I am a partner leading the Greater China Employment team comprising lawyers in Hong Kong and China. I also co-lead the firm's CSR and D&I Committees in Hong Kong. I have over 26 years of experience handling the full range of employment matters, including contentious terminations, investigations, discrimination claims, restrictive covenants, employment litigation, executive contracts, data privacy, restructuring and APAC regional projects.
Partner
UK
Here at Bird & Bird, I am a partner in our International Employment Group. I am currently qualified to practise in Hong Kong, Australia and England. This reflects my recent history where I have been lucky enough to be based in San Francisco, Hong Kong, Sydney and London. Most recently, I was based in our San Francisco office which I co-led, before returning to London.
The Employment (Amendment) Bill 2021 (“Amendment Bill”), which was gazetted on 5 March 2021, proposes to progressively increase the number of statutory holidays from 12 days to 17 days to bring the holiday entitlements under the Employment Ordinance (“EO”) in line with the General Holidays Ordinance (“GHO”).
Currently, all employees covered by the EO, regardless of their length of service, are entitled to 12 days of statutory holiday per year. Employees who have been continuously employed[1] in the 3-month period before a statutory holiday are also entitled to receive statutory holiday pay under the EO.
On the other hand, the GHO provides for 17 general holidays each year, in addition to Sundays, on which banks, educational establishments, public offices and government departments are not required to open. These general holidays include the 12 statutory holidays under the EO as well as five additional days off on Good Friday, the day following Good Friday, Easter Monday, the Buddha’s Birthday and the day following Christmas Day. An estimated 60% of employers choose to provide their employees with these five additional holidays. Whether they are paid or unpaid holidays is a matter for the employer.
Under the Amendment Bill, it is proposed that the EO will add one of the general holidays every two years to the list of statutory holidays under the EO starting from 1 January 2022, with the intention that all five additional holidays will be incorporated into the EO by 1 January 2030.
The proposed sequence of amendments is listed below:
| Additional statutory holiday | Proposed effective date |
| The Buddha’s birthday | 1 January 2022 |
| The first weekday after Christmas Day | 1 January 2024 |
| Easter Monday | 1 January 2026 |
| Good Friday | 1 January 2028 |
| The day following Good Friday | 1 January 2030 |
While some legislators are of the opinion that this timetable for reform is too lengthy, other members of the Bills Committee have cautioned that accelerating the pace of change would put undue financial pressure on employers who are experiencing hardships resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government view is that it has already taken into account the interests of both employers and employees and, as such, considers that the above timetable strikes the most appropriate balance.
[1]An employee is regarded as being continuously employed under the EO if he/she has worked for the same employer for at least four weeks and worked for a minimum of 18 hours in each of those weeks.
