New bill aims to lower working hours threshold for employment protections under Hong Kong's labour laws
Hong Kong has introduced a new bill that is aimed at lowering the threshold of weekly working hours required to qualify for a "continuous contract".
Employees who are under a "continuous contract" are eligible for key statutory benefits, such as rest days, paid annual leave, sickness allowance, and severance payments, among others, according to the Employment Ordinance (EO).
This includes full-time employees, as well as eligible part-time and casual employees.
Under the proposed Employment (Amendment) Bill 2025, the government wants to reduce the required weekly working hours of the "continuous contract" eligibility from 18 to 17 hours.
It also states that any week with less than 17 working hours will still count towards a "continuous contract" if the total working hours across that week and the three preceding weeks add up to at least 68 hours.
The Hong Kong government said the revisions aims to make it easier for employees to meet the revised "continuous contract" requirement and become eligible for comprehensive benefits.
A spokesperson for the Labour Department (LD) has clarified that the bill will revise the working hours required to qualify for a continuous contract.
"The existing eligibility criteria for employees to enjoy various statutory benefits under the EO will remain unchanged," the spokesperson said in a statement.
The proposed legislation, which was gazetted last week, will be introduced into Hong Kong's Legislative Council for first and second readings on April 16.
If it gets passed, the amendment ordinance will take effect on the first Sunday after six months upon its gazettal.
"During this period, the Labour Department will widely publicise the salient features of the amendments to employers and employees through various channels, facilitating both parties in getting prepared," the LD spokesperson said.
