Call For Alignment Of Statutory And General Holidays

Simon McConnell, Partner and Michelle Lai, Associate in Clyde & Co's Hong Kong office report on the proposals to change holiday entitlements.

Background

Recently, the Hong Kong Government has been engaged in discussions into increasing the number of statutory holidays from 12 to 17 days, to match general or public holidays. This proposal is aimed at removing the disparity in the holiday entitlements of blue-collar workers and office workers, which could be regarded as unfair and discriminatory against blue-collar workers.

It is suggested that the increase in statutory holidays should be made gradually, with one additional day's holiday added each year, over a five year period, to minimize the impact on employers.