The COVID-19 situation has caused increasing financial and operational difficulties for businesses. Various employers have either asked employees to take unpaid leave and/or annual leave during this period. This practice note examines the legal requirements for asking employees to take unpaid leave and/or annual leave.
Post-termination restrictions are commonly found in employee’s contracts to restrict the activities of a former employee following termination of his employment.
Working from home has become increasingly popular in the wake of Covid-19 (coronavirus). This article examines the legal implications of working from home.
Employers may be making more redundancies than usual as Hong Kong finds itself facing a time of political and economic uncertainty. Whether you’re an employer or employee, it pays to have a basic understanding of the law regarding redundancies. How and when do situations arise whereby you may need to make someone redundant?
The outbreak of COVID-19 novel coronavirus has brought about disruptions to both public life and international business of an unprecedented scale. Not surprisingly, there have already been instances of parties relying on the contractual force majeure clauses to “excuse” themselves from performing onerous or impossible contracts.In this article, partners Nick Gall, Evelyn Chan and Trainee Solicitor Adriel Wong explore whether a force majeure clause applies to COVID-19 and to a party's performance, and the various actions to take if a party considers that it is entitled to invoke a force majeure clause.
Andrea Randall and Joni Wong recently provided updates on their Practical Law Q&A guide to pensions law in Hong Kong for Pensions Global Guide. The Q&A gives a high level overview of the key practical issues including: state pensions; supplementary pensions; funding and solvency requirements; tax on pensions; business transfers; participation in pension schemes; and employer insolvency and overall scheme solvency.
Andrea Randall and Joni Wong recently contributed the Hong Kong chapter to Legal 500's Employee Incentives 2nd Edition Country Comparative Guide where they explored laws and regulations of Employee Incentives practice in Hong Kong including incentive plans, share options, compensation and legal requirements.
The Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced last Tuesday, 14 January 2020 that the government intends to increase the number of Hong Kong statutory holidays from 12 to 17 days.
Increasingly, there has been a spotlight on issues and complaints which arise in the workplace. Common issues might include complaints relating to harassment, bullying, discrimination and preferential treatment. When tensions run high, an apology is often valuable in helping to diffuse conflict and amend relationships. However, there is often a general reluctance to apologise for fear that it might constitute an admission of fault which might be used against a party in legal proceedings.
The Labour and Welfare Bureau (the “Bureau”) has recently announced measures to extend the statutory maternity leave in Hong Kong from 10 weeks to 14 weeks.
