The following can only be a brief introduction of the legal subject concerned. Before you take any action which may have legal consequence, you should first seek advice from your own lawyer or make an appointment at any District Office to see a volunteer lawyer of the Free Legal Advice Scheme.




(401) EMPLOYMENT 1 - STATUTORY HOLIDAYS, REST DAYS AND ANNUAL LEAVE

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Statutory Holidays entitlement

Irrespective of his length of service, an employee under the protection of the Employment Ordinance is entitled to 12 days to 17 days of statutory holidays in a year progressively from 2022 to 2030, which include:

The first day of January;

Lunar New Year's Day;

The second and third day of Lunar New Year;

Ching Ming Festival;

Labour Day, being the first day of May;

Tuen Ng Festival;

The day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival;

Chung Yeung Festival;

Chinese Winter Solstice Festival or Christmas Day;

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day, being the first day of July, and

National Day, being the first day of October,

The Birthday of the Buddha (Effective date: January 1, 2022),

The first weekday after Christmas Day (Effective date: January 1, 2024),

Easter Monday (Effective date: January 1, 2026),

Good Friday (Effective date: January 1, 2028); and

The day following Good Friday (Effective date: January 1, 2030).

If a statutory holiday falls on a rest day, the holiday should be taken on the day following the rest day.

If a statutory holiday falls on a rest day, the holiday should be taken on the day following the rest day.

If an employee is required to work on a statutory holiday, his employer may give him an alternative holiday within 60 days before or after a statutory holiday, with 48 hours notice. However, if the employer and employee agree, any day within 30 days of a statutory or alternative holiday may be taken by the employee as a substituted holiday.

Statutory Holiday Pay

If an employee has been employed by his employer under a continuous contract for 3 months immediately preceding a statutory holiday, he is entitled to holiday pay.

The daily rate of holiday pay shall be a sum equivalent to the daily average of the wages earned by the employee during the period of 12 months immediately before the holiday.

Mode of granting Rest Day

An employee employed under a continuous contract is entitled to not less than one rest day in every period of seven days.

The granting of rest day can be on a regular basis or irregular basis.

If the rest day is given on a regular basis, the employer should inform his employees of the arrangement.

If the rest day is given on an irregular basis, before the beginning of each month, the employer must inform all his employees of the appointed rest days during the month. He may do this orally or in writing or by displaying a roster showing the dates of the appointed rest days for each employee.

An employer may substitute some other day as a rest day with the consent of the employee, in each case it must be within the same month and before the original rest day or within 30 days after it.

Annual leave Entitlement

An employee is entitled to seven days' annual leave with pay after serving every period of 12 months under a continuous contract with the employer. The leave should be taken within the following period of 12 months. Such paid annual leave entitlement increases progressively to a maximum of 14 days according to his length of service. He will be entitled to 7 days for his 1st and 2nd year, 8 days for the 3rd year. If he has worked up to 9 years or above, he will be entitled to 14 days annual leave.

The time of the leave should be appointed by the employer after consultation with the employee or his representative, confirmed by a written notice to the employee at least 14 days in advance, unless a shorter period has been mutually agreed. Paid annual leave should be granted for an unbroken period. If the employee so requests, it may also be granted in the following manner:

1. Where the leave entitlement does not exceed 10 days, up to 3 days may be granted separately. The remaining days of leave should be granted consecutively.
2. Where the leave entitlement exceeds 10 days, at least 7 days of leave should be granted consecutively. The remaining days of leave may be granted separately.

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 Pay

The daily rate of annual leave pay shall be a sum equivalent to the daily average of the wages earned by the employee during the period of 12 months immediately before the annual leave.

If you have any further queries on the relevant provisions of the Employment Ordinance, please contact the telephone hotline 2717 1771 (handled by the 1823 Call Centre) or Offices of the Labour Relations Division of the Labour Department.

Date of amendment: 30th September 2021