Hong Kong
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- Capital City
Hong Kong
- Currency
Hong Kong dollar ($, HKD)
- Languages
Cantonese and English
- Population size
7,500,700
Employment termination
Termination process
An employee can be terminated for misconduct, negligence, disobedience of reasonable regulations, and generally, violating the employment.
An employee cannot be terminated for pregnancy, taking maternity leave, getting injured at work, joining a union, exercising their sick leave, or taking time off work to fulfil civil responsibilities like jury duty, etc.
Notice period
The employment contract spells out the notice period an employer should provide before laying off an employee and should be at least seven days.
If there’s no notice period specified in the employment contract, an employer must inform an employer at least 30 days before their employment is terminated.
Notice period required during the probation period
within the first month, no notice period is required
after the first month where a contract makes provision for a required length of notice, the period is as per agreement
after the first month where a contract does not make provision, the notice period should not be less than seven days
Notice period for a continuous contract / after the probation period
where the contract makes provision, the notice period is as per agreement, not less than seven days
where the contract does not make provision, the notice period should not be less than one month
Severance pay
According to the Hong Kong Employment Ordinance, an exiting employee is entitled to a severance package equal to 2/3 of the last full month’s salary or HK$ 22,500 multiplied by the number of years of employment with the employer.
The calculation for an employee that is paid on a monthly basis:
(the previous full month’s wages * 2/3) * reckonable years of service
the sum should not exceed 2/3 of $22,500 (i.e. $15,000)
Probation periods
Probation periods in Hong Kong last anywhere from one to three months and should be clearly defined in the employment contract.