Statutory Holidays
According to the Employee Ordinance of the Labour Legislation, 12 of the 17 public holidays are compulsory for employers to give to the employees. These 12 holidays are known as statuatory holidays (Chinese: 法定假期), labour holidays (Chinese: 勞工假期), or factory holidays (Chinese: 工廠假期).
| Date | Name in English | Name in Chinese | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Every Sunday | Sunday | 星期日 | |
| January 1 | New Year's Day | 一月一日 (元旦新年) | |
| First day of the first moon (Chinese lunar calendar) | Chinese New Year | 農曆年初一 | Usually occurs in late January or early February; the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays |
| Second day of the first moon (Chinese lunar calendar) | Second day of Chinese Lunar New Year | 農曆年初二 | |
| Third day of the first moon (Chinese lunar calendar) | Third day of Chinese Lunar New Year | 農曆年初三 | |
| April 5 (April 4 in leap years) | Ching Ming Festival | 清明節 | Occurs about 15 days after the Vernal Equinox; day for paying respect to one's ancestors |
| May 1 | Labour Day | 勞動節 | |
| Fifth day of the fifth moon (Chinese lunar calendar) | Dragon Boat Festival (Tuen Ng Festival) | 端午節 | Usually occurs in June; day for patriotic remembrance, eating cakes and dragon boat races |
| July 1 | Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day | 香港特別行政區成立紀念日 | |
| Sixteenth day of the eighth moon (Chinese lunar calendar) | Day following the Mid-Autumn Festival (or Moon Festival) | 中秋節翌日 | Usually occurs in September; important autumn celebration of harvest and togetherness, with the lighting of lanterns, eating of mooncakes and observation of the moon |
| October 1 | National Day | 中華人民共和國國慶日 | |
| Ninth day of the ninth moon (Chinese lunar calendar) | Chung Yeung Festival | 重陽節 | Usually occurs in October; day for honouring the elderly and the deceased, and for mountain climbing |
| around December 21 or 22 OR December 25 | Winter Solstice OR Christmas Day | 冬至或聖誕節 | either day can be chosen by employers. |
If an employer states in the employment contract that its employees are only allowed to take statutory holidays, it is legal to require the employees to work on public holidays that are not statutory holidays (i.e. Good Friday, the day following Good Friday, Easter Monday, Buddha's Birthday and the day following Christmas) without salary or leave compensations.
Traditionally, statutory holidays are an entitlement associated with blue-collar jobs in fields such as manufacturing, construction, textiles and clothing, repairing, mass media, security, cleaning, transportation, logistics, distribution, retailing, catering, laborer, hotel and customer service. But in recent years, certain white-collar jobs and government contract staff are also entitled to statutory holidays only.
Read more about this topic: Public Holidays In Hong Kong