In late February, 2022, the Hong Kong Government introduced the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2022 ("Covid Employment Bill"). Under the proposed legislation, a day of absence from work due to Government restrictions on movements will be treated as a sickness day so that employees will be protected from dismissal for such absence and may be eligible for sickness allowance. Conversely, under the proposed legislation, a dismissal of an employee who fails to comply with an employer's legitimate vaccination request within a prescribed period without sufficient medical reasons will not be regarded as an unreasonable dismissal. If you would like more information about how these proposed arrangements may affect you or if you have questions about Hong Kong employment law matters, please contact one of our employment lawyers.
Introduced in late February, 2022, the Covid Employment Bill aims to extend statutory safeguards to employees absent from work during the COVID-19 pandemic and to enable employers to mandate that employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. The Covid Employment Bill has not yet been passed into law but is expected to be implemented as soon as possible.
Like all members of the public, employees must comply with restrictions on movement imposed under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, including quarantine and isolation orders. The Covid Employment Bill will make it explicit that:
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