The Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 (the 2020 Ordinance), which increases the statutory maternity leave under the Employment Ordinance to 14 weeks, will come into effect on 11 December 2020.

For details of the key changes under the 2020 Ordinance, please see our July 2020 Legal Update "Statutory Maternity Leave to be Extended to 14 Weeks in Hong Kong".

The key transitional arrangements are:

  1. For employees whose actual date of confinement is before 11 December 2020, their maternity leave entitlement will follow the current entitlement of 10 weeks. If the actual date of confinement is on or after 11 December 2020, then the employee will be entitled to 14 weeks of maternity leave and additional maternity leave pay (where eligible), even if the notice of pregnancy is given before 11 December 2020.
  2. Similarly, the period during which a male employee may take statutory paternity leave will follow the current statutory provisions if the child is born before 11 December 2020, i.e., in the period beginning four weeks before the expected confinement date and ending 10 weeks from the actual confinement date. If the child is born on or after 11 December 2020, the period during which statutory paternity leave may be taken will be extended for four weeks with such period ending at 14 weeks from the actual confinement date.
  3. Details of how the government will reimburse employers for the payment of additional maternity leave pay under the 2020 Ordinance, which is capped at HK$80,000, are still not yet available.

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