How to be Entitled to Maternity Leave?

In Hong Kong, as long as a female employee is under continuous contract, she will be entitled to maternity leave.

How Long, and when should Maternity Leave Begins?

  • Maternity leave should begin 2 to 4 weeks before confinement in general if everything goes as planned.
  • Employees would have a continuous period of 14 weeks maternity leave.
  • If confinement is, unexpectedly, later than expected, then there will be an additional period of leave which is equal to how long the confinement has been postponed.

How much Salary/Wage to be Payable during Maternity Leave?

In general, the employee will be entitled to payment if she has been under continuous contract for not less than 40 weeks before the maternity leave.

The daily payment of maternity leave pay should be at least four fifth of the average daily wages (ADW) earned by the employee in the preceding 12-month period. Please refer to further explanation in ADW.


Reference:

Explanation on maternity leaves by labour department:
http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/faq/cap57h_whole.htm

The concise guide published by labour department for more details on maternity leave:
http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/wcp/ConciseGuide/06.pdf