HK statutory holidays for 2019

OFWs relax in Central on their day off

There will be 12 statutory holidays for Hong Kong workers next year, according to the Labour Department.

The department reminded employers to allow their workers to take the day off during statutory holidays. An employer who wants her foreign domestic worker to work during a statutory holiday should inform her 48 hours before the holiday.

If the worker agrees, the employer should provide an alternative holiday within 60 days, the Labour Department said.

The employer cannot offer to pay the worker additional wages in lieu of the statutory holiday. Doing so would make her liable to prosecution and a fine of $50,000, it added.

According to the Labour Department, the 12 statutory holidays for 2019 include:

The first day of January (1 January)

Lunar New Year’s Day (5 February)

The second day of Lunar New Year (6 February)

The third day of Lunar New Year (7 February)

Ching Ming Festival (5 April)

Labour Day (1 May)

Tuen Ng Festival (7 June)

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (1 July)

The day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (14 September)

National Day (1 October)

Chung Yeung Festival (7 October)

Chinese Winter Solstice Festival (22 December) or Christmas Day (25 December) (at the option of the employer)

“All employees are entitled to the above statutory holidays. If the statutory holiday falls on a rest day, a holiday should be granted on the day following the rest day which is not a statutory holiday or an alternative holiday or a substituted holiday or a rest day,” the department said.

“An employee having been employed under a continuous contract for not less than 3 months is entitled to the holiday pay which is equivalent to the daily average wages earned by the employee in the 12-month period preceding the holiday,” it added.