Sick leave, maternity, paternity and work injuries

These notes set out sickness allowance, maternity leave, and paternity leave under the Employment Ordinance, and employees' compensation for a work injury under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance. The focus is the conditions for payment, how the sum is worked out, what proof you need, and what the employer must not do. They follow Chapters 5, 6, and 7 of the Labour Department's A Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance (version finalised in December 2025) and the Labour Department's A Brief Guide to the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (April 2026 edition). Both were checked on 19 October 2026. The briefing on reading an offer, in the first batch, sets out only the basic accrual of sick leave. These notes do not go over that introduction again.

Sickness allowance

1. The conditions. You must meet all of them.
   1. You are employed under a continuous contract.
   2. The sick leave is not less than 4 consecutive days.
   3. You have accrued enough paid sickness days.
   4. You can produce an appropriate medical certificate.
2. An exception. Where a pregnant employee is absent for a prenatal examination, for postnatal treatment, or because of a miscarriage, each such day qualifies for sickness allowance. The rule of 4 consecutive days does not apply. For a prenatal examination, you may produce a medical certificate, and you may also produce a certificate of attendance.
3. The amount. It is four-fifths of the average daily wages over the 12 months before the specified date. The specified date is the day of the sick leave. Where the leave runs for more than 1 consecutive day, it is the first day. Payment must be made not later than the normal pay day.
4. Accrual. In the first 12 months, 2 days accrue for each completed month. After that, 4 days accrue for each completed month. The ceiling at any one time is 120 days.
5. Two categories of sickness days.
   1. Category 1 is at most 36 days. You take them on a medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner, a registered Chinese medicine practitioner, or a registered dentist.
   2. The days above that are Category 2, at most 84 days. If the employer asks, you must produce a certificate signed by the doctor who treated you at a hospital outpatient department, or while you were in hospital. The employer may also ask for a brief record of the treatment.
6. The medical certificate must state the number of days you are unfit for work, and the nature of the sickness or injury.
7. Cases in which sickness allowance is not payable.
   1. The employer has a medical scheme recognised by the Department of Health, and you refuse treatment by the company doctor without a reasonable explanation.
   2. The sick leave falls on a statutory holiday, and you have already been paid holiday pay for that day.
   3. The absence is because of a work injury, and compensation is available under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.
8. The sick-leave record. The employer must keep a record of days accrued and days taken. You sign it within 7 days after you return to work. You are entitled to inspect it.
9. Keeping the job. Apart from summary dismissal for serious misconduct, the employer must not dismiss you during paid sick leave. The maximum fine is HK$100,000. Within 7 days the employer must also pay payment in lieu of notice, compensation of 7 days' wages, and the sickness allowance due to you.

A point on practice. The contract may give better sick leave than the Ordinance, for example paid sick leave for an absence of 1 to 3 days. Check the contract and the staff handbook. The Ordinance is the floor.

Maternity leave

1. Who qualifies for the leave. You are employed under a continuous contract before the maternity leave begins, and you have given the employer notice of the pregnancy and of your intention to take maternity leave.
2. The number of days.
   1. 14 weeks, taken consecutively.
   2. If the date of confinement is later than the expected date, add the number of days from the day after the expected date to the actual date of confinement.
   3. If illness, or an inability to work, results from the pregnancy or the confinement, up to a further 4 weeks.
3. When it starts. With the employer's agreement, it may start from 2 to 4 weeks before the expected date of confinement. If you do not ask, or agreement is not given, it must start 4 weeks before the expected date. If the confinement is early, the leave starts on the date of confinement, and you must tell the employer within 7 days after the confinement.
4. Who qualifies for maternity leave pay.
   1. You have been employed under a continuous contract for 40 weeks before the maternity leave begins.
   2. You have given notice of the pregnancy.
   3. If the employer asks, you have produced a medical certificate stating the expected date of confinement.
5. The amount. 14 weeks are paid. Each day is four-fifths of the average daily wages over the 12 months before the first day of the maternity leave. The total for weeks 11 to 14 is capped at HK$80,000. The employer pays it in the normal wage period. After paying for weeks 11 to 14, the employer may apply to the Government for reimbursement.
6. Keeping the job. From the date a medical certificate confirms the pregnancy until the date you are due to return to work at the end of maternity leave, an employee who has given notice of the pregnancy must not be dismissed. The only exceptions are these.
   1. Summary dismissal for serious misconduct.
   2. Where the contract expressly provides for a probation period, dismissal during a probation period of not more than 12 weeks. The dismissal must not be because of the pregnancy.

If you were dismissed before you gave notice of the pregnancy, you may give that notice immediately after the notice of dismissal, and the employer must withdraw the dismissal. For an unlawful dismissal the maximum fine is HK$100,000. The employer must pay payment in lieu of notice, compensation of 1 month's wages, and 14 weeks' maternity leave pay if you would otherwise have qualified.

1. Heavy, hazardous, or harmful work. If you produce a medical certificate stating that the work is unsuitable, the employer must take you off it within 14 days.

Paternity leave

1. Who qualifies. You are the father of a newborn child, or of a child about to be born. You are employed under a continuous contract, and you have notified the employer as required. The Ordinance does not require a legal marriage to the child's mother.
2. The number of days. 5 days for each confinement. You may take them in one block, or day by day.
3. When you may take them. Any day from 4 weeks before the expected date of birth until 14 weeks counting from the actual date of birth.
4. Notice. At least 3 months before the expected date of birth, tell the employer that you intend to take paternity leave, and tell the employer the actual dates again before the leave. If you did not give 3 months' notice in advance, you must give notice of the actual dates at least 5 days before the leave.
5. Who qualifies for paternity leave pay.
   1. You have been employed under a continuous contract for not less than 40 weeks before the leave.
   2. You provide the documents within 12 months after the first day of the leave. If you have already left the employment, the limit is 6 months after you leave. The earlier of the two limits applies.
6. The documents. The child's birth certificate must record your name and show you as the father. If the child was born outside Hong Kong, provide the birth certificate issued by the competent authority of that place.
7. The amount. Each day is four-fifths of the average daily wages over the 12 months before the leave.

A work injury

1. Who is covered. Every full-time or part-time employee employed under a contract of employment, or under a contract of apprenticeship. The Ordinance also applies where a Hong Kong employer employs you in Hong Kong and you are injured while working outside Hong Kong.
2. Situations treated as arising out of the employment include these.
   1. Travelling to or from the place of work in transport the employer operates or arranges. Public transport is excluded.
   2. During a tropical cyclone warning signal No. 8 or above, a red or black rainstorm warning, or "extreme conditions", travelling by a direct route between your residence and your place of work, within the 4 hours before work starts or within the 4 hours after work ends.
   3. Travelling between Hong Kong and a place outside Hong Kong for the work, with the employer's permission.
3. What you must do. Report to the employer, or to a supervisor, as soon as you can. The report may be oral or in writing.
4. The employer's time limits for reporting, whether or not the employer is liable to pay compensation.
   1. Incapacity not exceeding 3 days: within 14 days, on Form 2B.
   2. Incapacity exceeding 3 days: within 14 days, on Form 2.
   3. Death: within 7 days.
5. Periodical payments for sick leave caused by the injury. They are four-fifths of the difference between monthly earnings and monthly earnings during the period of incapacity, and they are paid on the normal pay day. If, without reasonable excuse, payment is still outstanding 7 days after it falls due, the maximum fine is HK$100,000.
6. Medical expenses. The daily ceilings the employer must pay are HK$300 for inpatient treatment, HK$500 for outpatient treatment, and HK$700 where you have both inpatient and outpatient treatment on the same day. Treatment given from 9 February 2018 to 31 December 2025 is subject to lower ceilings.
7. How the compensation is settled.
   1. Sick leave not exceeding 3 days, and no permanent incapacity: the employer pays directly.
   2. More than 3 days, but not more than 7 days: it may be settled by agreement under the Ordinance.
   3. The other cases: the Commissioner for Labour issues a certificate of compensation assessment, Form 5. The employer must pay within 21 days. Either side that objects must object in writing within 14 days after Form 5 is issued. Late payment also attracts a surcharge.
8. The time limit for proceedings. The claim must be brought in court within 24 months from the date of the accident. If it is still unresolved at 18 months, contact the Employees' Compensation Division of the Labour Department as soon as you can.
9. A point to keep in mind. During sick leave for the injury, do not work for another employer unless the employer agrees. Otherwise it may be treated as fraud.
10. Before a compensation agreement is reached with the injured employee, or before the certificate of assessment is issued, the employer must not dismiss that employee.

Documents to keep

1. Sick leave. A medical certificate stating the number of days and the condition. For sick leave of more than 36 days, if the employer asks, a certificate from a hospital outpatient department or from a stay in hospital.
2. Maternity leave. A certificate confirming the pregnancy and the expected date of confinement, and proof of the actual date of confinement.
3. Paternity leave. The birth certificate, and a written statement as well if the employer asks for one.
4. A work injury. Report it as soon as you can. Keep the medical certificates, the receipts for treatment, the prescriptions, and every sick-leave certificate covering the sick leave for the injury.

Sources

• Labour Department, A Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance, Chapters 5, 6, and 7 (version finalised in December 2025, checked 19 October 2026)
• Labour Department, A Brief Guide to the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, with frequently asked questions on employees' compensation (April 2026 edition, checked 19 October 2026)