Employment Lawyers in Hong Kong.

What an employment lawyer in Hong Kong handles

An employment lawyer in Hong Kong works mostly with one statute: the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57). It sets the floor for notice, wages, leave and the payments owed when a job ends. Firms act for both sides: employers restructuring a team or dismissing for misconduct, and employees who think a final payment is short.

The first question in most cases is whether the employee was on a "continuous contract". Rest days, paid annual leave, sickness allowance, severance and long service payment all depend on it. From 18 January 2026 the test changed: an employee who has worked for the same employer for four weeks or more qualifies by working at least 17 hours in each week, or 68 hours across a four-week period (the "468 rule"). For periods before that date the old test of 18 hours every week still applies, so a claim that spans both needs care.

Termination, severance and long service payment

Either side can end a contract by notice or by payment in lieu of notice. Where the contract says nothing, the Ordinance requires at least one month once probation is over.

Summary dismissal, meaning dismissal with no notice and no payment in lieu, is reserved for serious cases: wilful disobedience of a lawful and reasonable order, misconduct, fraud or dishonesty, or habitual neglect of duties. The Labour Department calls it a serious disciplinary action for very serious misconduct, so it is worth a lawyer's review before the decision is made.

Severance payment and long service payment are the two statutory lump sums, and an employee cannot receive both. Severance follows redundancy after at least 24 months of continuous employment. Long service payment needs at least five years, and applies where the dismissal is not for redundancy or serious misconduct, and in some other cases such as death, resignation on grounds of ill health, or resignation at 65 or over. Both are capped at $390,000.

The MPF offsetting arrangement was abolished on 1 May 2025. For a job that straddles that date, the payment is split into a pre-transition and a post-transition portion and calculated separately, so the figures are worth checking line by line. A lawyer checks the reckonable service, the wage figure and the cap, and whether the dismissal also exposes the employer to a claim for unreasonable dismissal, which is open to employees with 24 months' service dismissed without one of the valid reasons the Ordinance lists.

Domestic helper employment

Foreign domestic helpers are employed on the Standard Employment Contract (ID 407), the only official contract for them in Hong Kong. They enjoy the same protection as local employees under the Employment Ordinance, plus the extra terms in the contract: paid annual leave rising from seven to 14 days with service, and severance or long service payment where the conditions are met.

Ending a helper's contract early has its own steps. Either side can give one month's written notice or pay one month's wages in lieu, and both must notify the Director of Immigration in writing within seven days. A helper may stay no more than two weeks after a premature termination, so disputes over final pay move quickly. Questions about a new employer or a replacement helper's visa sit with immigration lawyers in Hong Kong.