12 June, 2018
The Employment (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance 2018 was gazetted on 25 May 2018 and will come into force on a day to be appointed by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare.
The main objective of this amendment is that, in the case of unlawful and unreasonable termination (e.g. termination of a pregnant employee, employee on paid sick leave, employee participating in trade union activities or an employee who has an outstanding employees’ compensation claim against the employer), an order of re-instatement or re-engagement may be made in the absence of an employer’s agreement if the Labour Tribunal considers it appropriate and reasonably practicable. Before making the relevant order of re-instatement or re-engagement, the Labour Tribunal must allow the employer and the employee to present their cases in respect of making the order and consider all relevant circumstances.
Any order of re-instatement or re-engagement made by the Labour Tribunal will also contain a term to the effect that a failure to re-instate or re-engage the employee by a specific date will result in a liability to pay the employee a further sum set at three times the employee's average monthly wages, subject to a maximum of HK$72,500.
The full text of the gazette can be accessed through this link: Employment (Amendment) (No. 2)Ordinance 2018—Ordinance No. 21 of 2018.
For further information, please contact:
Laure de Panafieu , Counsel, Head of Employment & Incentives, Asia , Linklaters
laure.de_panafieu@linklaters.com
