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Ord. No. 22/81
EMPLOYMENT (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2)
EMPLOYMENT (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2)
Ord. No. 22/81
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Short title and commencement.
Amendment of
section 2. (Cap. 57.)
L.S
HONG KONG
No. 22 OF 1981
I assent.
MURRAY MACLEHOSE,
Governor.
30 April 1981.
An Ordinance to amend the Employment Ordinance.
[
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Enacted by the Governor of Hong Kong, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof.
1.
This Ordinance may be cited as the Employment (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance 1981 and shall come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Governor by notice in the Gazette.
2. Section 2 of the principal Ordinance is amended by inserting after the definition of "maternity leave" the following-
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"maternity leave pay" means pay in respect of maternity leave
payable to a female employee under section 14;
"miscarriage" means the expulsion of the products of conception which are incapable of survival after being born before 28 weeks of pregnancy;".
Amendment of section 12.
3.
Repeal and replacement of section 14.
Section 12 of the principal Ordinance is amended—
(a) in subsection (4) by deleting "8 weeks" and substituting the
following-
"12 weeks"; and
(b) by inserting after subsection (9) the following—
4.
"(10) The continuity of employment of a female employee shall not be treated as broken by her taking maternity leave.
(11) For the avoidance of doubt it is declared that maternity leave is, and shall be granted, in addition to annual leave to which a female employee is entitled under this Ordinance and that any rest day or holiday that falls due during maternity leave shall be counted as part of the maternity leave and shall not give rise to any entitlement to an additional or other rest day or holiday.".
Section 14 of the principal Ordinance is repealed and replaced by the following—
"Payment for
maternity leave.
14. (1) A female employee shall not be entitled to wages in respect of the period of her maternity leave except as provided in this section or as provided in her contract of employment if such contract provides for paid maternity leave on terms better than in this section.
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5.
(2) Subject to subsection (6), an employer shall pay a female employee maternity leave pay for the period of maternity leave taken by her and to which she is entitled under section 12(2)(a) and (c) if she→
(a) has been employed by that employer under a continuous contract for a period of not less than 40 weeks before the expected date of her com- mencement of maternity leave;
(b) has given notice under section 12(4) or (5); (c) has complied with any requirement by her employer
under section 12(6) or (7); and
(d) has no children or no more than 2 children born to her and of any age at the time when she gives notice under section 12(4) or (5) and has produced to her employer a statutory declaration to that effect.
(3) The rate of maternity leave pay is-
(a) in the case of a female employee whose wages are computed by reference to a monthly rate, two- thirds of her monthly rate of pay, other than over- time pay; and
(b) in any other case, two-thirds of the average daily wage, other than overtime pay, earned by a female employee on the days on which she worked during the period of 28 days preceding the commence- ment of her maternity leave.
(4) Maternity leave pay under this section shall be paid by an employer on the same day and in the same manner as he would have been required to pay wages to the female employee if she had not taken maternity leave and had continued in his employ.
(5) A female employee who, without the prior per- mission of her employer, works for another employer during any period of maternity leave under section 12(2)(a) and (c) shall forfeit her entitlement to maternity leave pay during that period of maternity leave.
(6) Where a female employee is entitled to maternity leave pay for the period prior to her confinement, her employer shall only be required under subsection (2) to pay maternity leave pay for such period from the date of com- mencement of maternity leave to the date of her con- finement:
Provided that such maternity leave pay shall not in any case be payable for a period exceeding 4 weeks.".
Section 15 of the principal Ordinance is amended—
(a) by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following-
"(1) No employer shall terminate a contract of employ- ment of a female employee under section 6 or 7 during the period from the date
(a) on which she gives notice under section 12(4) or
(8); or
(b) of her confinement where she subsequently gives
notice under section 12(5),
Amendment of section 15.