XN000022-1996-09-25 — Page 25

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The ceremony was officiated by the acting Director of Immigration, Mr Christopher Lee Ka-keung, who said the award of the Hong Kong Disciplined Services Medal was to honour those who had rendered long and meritorious service as members of the Immigration Service.

He also congratulated all recipients and thanked them for their many years of loyalty and dedication to the Immigration Service.

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Mid-autumn Festival holiday reminder

The Labour Department today (Wednesday) reminded employers that Saturday (September 28), the day following Mid-autumn Festival, is one of the 11 statutory holidays for employees.

Under the Employment Ordinance, all employees, irrespectively of their wage levels, are entitled to statutory holidays and must be paid for the day off if they have worked continuously for the same employer for three months or longer before the statutory holiday.

Holiday pay should be equivalent to an employee's earnings on a full working day and should include basic wages as well as allowances that can be expressed in money terms such as meals and cost of living allowances.

Where the earnings vary from day to day, holiday pay should be the average daily earnings during every complete wage period, which could be between 28 and 31 days, preceding the holiday.

If an employee is required to work on a statutory holiday, he must be given an alternative day off within 60 days before or after the holiday.

Enquiries about statutory holidays can be made at the Labour Department's general enquiry telephone service on 2717 1771.

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