Maternity Leave
In Hong Kong, a female employee employed under a continuous contract (i.e. for at least 4 weeks and working not less than 18 hours per week) immediately before the commencement of her maternity leave is entitled to a continuous period of 14 weeks’ maternity leave. This entitlement applies to all female employees in Hong Kong regardless of their occupations, so migrant domestic workers are also entitled to the same maternity protection as other female workers.
Notice of Pregnancy
However, it is the pregnant employee’s obligation to give notice of pregnancy and her intention to take maternity leave to the employer in order to avail of this entitlement.
It is recommended that you give a written notice to the employer soon after you have obtained a medical certificate to protect your maternity rights. Providing a copy of the medical certificate to the employer is regarded as giving notice of pregnancy. You can serve the written notice to the employer or provide a copy of the medical certificate in person, by registered mail or through WhatsApp message. Keeping record (e.g. keep the Whatsapp chat history between you and your employer) of this notice is important in case of disputes.
If you don’t know how to write a “Notice of Pregnancy, check out this interactive tool PREGNANT@WORK (PAT), which can help you generate one with a few simple steps. This tool is available in Chinese, English and Indonesian. Aside from generating a “Notice of Pregnancy” PAT also tells you about statutory maternity rights and duties and provides a calculator to estimate any statutory maternity leave pay.
Maternity Leave Pay
If you have been employed for at least 40 weeks immediately before the commencement of maternity leave and you have given notice of pregnancy to your employer, you are entitled to maternity leave pay.
Your maternity leave pay is calculated at 4/5 or 80% of the average daily wages you have earned during the last 12 months immediately before the start of the maternity leave, or, if you have worked for less than 12 months, the calculation is based on the actual period of employment. Employers can apply for reimbursement of the statutory maternity leave pay (MLP) paid to employees in respect of the 11th to 14th weeks, subject to a cap of $80,000 per employee. You can also share information about Reimbursement of Maternity Leave Pay (“RMLP”) Scheme with your employer: https://www.rmlps.gov.hk/eng/faqs (English)
https://www.rmlps.gov.hk/tc/faqs (Chinese)
If you have been employed for at least 4 weeks but less than 40 weeks, you will still be entitled to take maternity leave but the period of leave would be unpaid.
If you want to learn more about your maternity rights, please visit the labor department website or send your enquiry to the Labor Department:
- Website: https://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/wcp/MaternityProtection.pdf
- General Enquiry Hotline: 2717 1771 (handled by “1823”)
- Hotline for Foreign Domestic Helper: 2157 9537
- E-mail: enquiry@labour.gov.hk
Source: Labour Department, PREGNANT@WORK
PathFinders is a charity that helps migrant domestic workers who have become pregnant or have given birth to children in Hong Kong (including former migrant domestic workers who have overstayed their visas)
All our services are FREE of charge.
Learn more about PathFinders:
https://www.pathfinders.org.hk/en
For General Inquiries:
Email us at info@pathfinders.org.hk, or send us a message on our Facebook page (PathFindersHK / PathFinders for Migrant Workers).
Client hotline for pregnant migrant workers, or migrant domestic workers with children: +852 5190 4886. (Sun-Fri 10am-6pm Sat 10am-2pm)
Address: Unit 2D, Worldwide Centre, 123 Tung Chau Street Tai KoK Tsui, Kowloon