Good news for wage earners. Entering the new year, Hong Kong’s statutory holidays will increase by one day to 13. The next time the red holiday is added to 2024, Christmas will be included in the holiday, and there will be an additional day every two years, until the three-day Easter holiday is also included in the statutory holiday.
According to the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2021, the statutory holidays under the Employment Ordinance will gradually increase from 2022 to 2030. The first new statutory holiday this year is the Buddha's Birthday.
The Labour Department pointed out that for the Buddha’s Birthday in 2022, employers must give employees a statutory holiday on May 8 (Sunday), the statutory holiday.
However, if the employee’s rest day is a Sunday, the employer should arrange for the employee to take the Buddha’s Birthday of that year on the following day (ie, May 9), but the following day must not be another holiday, a substitute holiday or a rest day.
Starting this year, working people will have one more day of holiday, and the birthday of the Buddha has become a statutory holiday.
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A spokesman for the Labour Department pointed out that all employees under the Employment Ordinance, regardless of their working hours and seniority, are entitled to statutory holidays.
If the employee has been employed under a continuous contract immediately before the statutory holiday, that is, he has been employed by the same employer for four weeks or more, and he has worked at least 18 hours a week for three months, and he is entitled to holiday pay.
After the amendment, the statutory holidays in Hong Kong will be gradually increased from the original 12 days to 17 days. The new statutory holidays in the future will be the first Sunday after Christmas (from 2024), Easter Monday (from 2026), Jesus Good Friday (from 2028) and the day following Good Friday (from 2030).
The public can visit the "Add Statutory Holidays" page of the Labour Department for further information: www.labour.gov.hk/en/news/EAO2021.htm
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