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The General Holidays and Employment Legislation (Substitution of Holidays)(Amendment) Ordinance 2011 (Amendment Ordinance) took effect today (February 24). It amends the Employment Ordinance (EO) and the General Holidays Ordinance (GHO) to change the day that is to be substituted as a statutory holiday and general holiday when any Lunar New Year holidays or the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival falls on a Sunday.
According to the Amendment Ordinance, when either Lunar New Year's Day, the second day of Lunar New Year or the third day of Lunar New Year falls on a Sunday, the fourth day of Lunar New Year is designated as a statutory holiday and general holiday in substitution, and in the event that the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival falls on a Sunday, the day thereafter (i.e. the 17th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar) is designated as a statutory holiday and general holiday in substitution. This amendment to the EO and the GHO does not affect the substitution arrangement of other statutory holidays and general holidays.
A spokesman for the Labour Department said, "Under the previous provisions of the EO and the GHO, when any Lunar New Year holidays or the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival fell on a Sunday, the day immediately before the holiday was designated as a holiday in substitution. Such an arrangement might not in essence bring about a de facto holiday for those employees working on a five-day workweek basis with a day off on Saturdays and Sundays. The Amendment Ordinance improves this situation and enables employees working on a Monday-to-Friday basis to have their statutorily provided holiday in substitution and their Saturday day off on different days in the aforesaid circumstances. For other employees working on a five-and-a-half-day week basis with half day off on Saturday, they can also benefit from the new substitution arrangement."
As the next time that the first day of Lunar New Year falls on a Sunday is in 2013, employees will be able to benefit from the Amendment Ordinance in 2013 at the earliest.
To assist the public in understanding the amendments, the Labour Department has published a leaflet on the Amendment Ordinance, which is available at the branch offices of the department's Labour Relations Division and the Home Affairs Department's district offices. The leaflet can also be downloaded from the department's website (www.labour.gov.hk). Enquiries on the Amendment Ordinance can be made at the department's hotline at 2717 1771.
Ends/Friday, February 24, 2012
Issued at HKT 10:50
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