Lawmakers should approve an amendment to employment laws promptly to ensure citizens undergoing isolation or quarantine can enjoy sick leave, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong urged.
The bill to amend the Employment Ordinance will undergo its first and second reading at Legislative Council this Wednesday.
The amendment will make it explicit that if employees are absent from work due to their compliance with health restrictions, those will be deemed as sickness days under the Employment Ordinance. Allowance should be given to employees, and it will be “unreasonable dismissal” if employers fire them for it.
The same amendment will also allow employers to sack employees who cannot go to work due to their refusal to receive vaccination without sufficient medical reasons.
In his blog on Sunday, Law said health authorities issued sick leave certificates for those undergoing quarantine during the 2003 SARS outbreak.
But when Covid-19 broke out in the beginning of 2020, the government was of the view that compulsory quarantine did not equal to sickness. Mandatory quarantine notices could not serve the same purpose as sick leave certificates, and the government must amend the Employment Ordinance to solve the issue, legal experts told authorities.
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