Dismissal of Employees in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, Labor law is controlled mainly by the Employment Ordinance. There is also the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance that deals with several features of the employment relations. In most cases, the termination of an employment contract happens due to the following causes: personal and economic. 

The Employment Ordinance in Hong Kong

The Employment Ordinance (EO) stands for every employee that has a contract of employment in Hong Kong. The EO covers a series of employment benefits like:

• – rest days;
• – wage protection;
• – holidays with pay;
• – sickness allowance;
• – maternity protection;
• – statutory paternity leave;
• – termination of employment contract and others.

Termination of an employment contract in Hong Kong 

In Hong Kong, the termination of the employment contract happens under a set of conditions:

• – when the parties form a consensus: the contract ends at the end of a mutually accepted fixed term;
• – by notice or by paying of wages instead of notice: each one of the parties can terminate a contract by offering the other a length of notice. 

Employees dismissal in Hong Kong 

Any employer in Hong Kong has the right to terminate a contract without notice or payment if the employees:

• – have disobeyed the law;
• – have an inappropriate conduct that affects their work;
• – are dishonest and deceitful;
• – are neglectful regarding their work;
• – any other reason the employer has on terminating the contract without notice in agreement with the common law. 

Employees Entitlement on Termination

Employees have several entitlements if they are dismissed: 

– all unused wages and payments up to the time of termination are payable;

– in case of the employees who are entitled to an annual bonus and are dismissed, they receive a proportional payment from the annual bonus;

– if the employee has at least 24 months of continuous employment and is dismissed by reason of redundancy, he receives a severance payment; after at least 5 years of service, a long service payment may be due instead (since 1 May 2025, employers can no longer offset these against mandatory MPF contributions for service after that date). 

Restrictions on Dismissal in Hong Kong 

The EO interdicts the termination of a contract in certain situations:

– the employer cannot dismiss an employee who is employed under a continuous contract (since 18 January 2026: at least 68 working hours over 4 consecutive weeks) and has served notice of her pregnancy;

– the employer cannot dismiss someone who is on a paid statutory sick leave;

– an employer cannot dismiss someone who suffered incapacity under the meaning of the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance. 

Our law firm in Hong Kong has experienced lawyers that can help you with accurate information and legal advice concerning any kind of legal stipulations in case of terminating an employment contract.  For more information on this legal matter, you may ask for the help of our  Hong Kong lawyers.