Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance

Chapter 1: Application of the Employment Ordinance

The Employment Ordinance applies to all employees with the following exceptions:

● a family member who lives in the same dwelling as the employer; ● an employee as defined in the Contracts for Employment Outside Hong Kong Ordinance; ● a person serving under a crew agreement under the Merchant Shipping (Seafarers) Ordinance, or on board a ship which is not registered in Hong Kong; and ● an apprentice whose contract of apprenticeship has been registered under the Apprenticeship Ordinance, other than certain provisions of the Employment Ordinance.

All employees covered by the Employment Ordinance, irrespective of their hours of work, are entitled to basic protection under the Ordinance including payment of wages, restrictions on wages deductions and the granting of statutory holidays, etc. Employees who are employed under a continuous contract are further entitled to such benefits as rest days, paid annual leave, sickness allowance, severance payment and long service payment, etc.

Continuous Contract of Employment

An employee who works continuously for the same employer for four weeks or more, with at least 18 hours in each week is regarded as working under a continuous contract. In any dispute as to whether a contract of employment is a continuous contract, the onus of proving that it is not a continuous contract shall be on the employer.

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