TNAG-0452-FCO40-517-Legislation-for-employment-of-workers-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 22

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31B(1) will not be included for the purposes of such calculation.

An employee who, being under notice of dismissal, has his contract terminated forthwith for taking part in a strike is not solely on that account deprived of his right to a severance payment.

An employee who is entitled to both a severance payment under Part VA and a gratuity based upon length of service or provident fund payment will receive his severance payment reduced by the amount of the gratuity or provident fund payment paid to him (section 311).

Section 31G provides that where a change occurs in the ownership of a business and in connexion with that change, but prior thereto, an employee is dismissed, the employee shall not be entitled to a severance payment if the new owner, with the agreement of the employee, renews his contract of employment or re-engages him on the same or similar terms to his existing contract or if the new owner makes an offer of employment which is unreasonably refused by the employee. The operation of section 31G is not affected by the fact that the previous owner of the business and the new owner are associated companies (section 31K). Furthermore, in determining whether the criteria of redun- dancy exist for the purposes of entitlement to a severance payment, regard may be had not only to the employer company but also to the business of any "associated companies" as if they together constituted one business.

Section 31L provides that, where by operation of law there is an implied or constructive termination of a contract of employment arising from any act on the part of or any event affecting the employer, that termination shall be treated as termination by the employer. In such a case, if the employee's contract is not renewed and he is not re-engaged under a new contract, he will be taken to be dismissed by reason of redundancy if the criteria for redundancy specified in section 31B are satisfied.

Section 31M provides that, in the event of the death of an employer or employee, Parts I and II respectively of the new Third Schedule (added by section 6 of this Ordinance) will apply.

The time within which an employee must claim a severance payment is laid down in section 31N, and section 310 deals with the time for and manner of payment of a severance payment.

An employer who makes a severance payment, other- wise than in accordance with a decision of the Labour Tribunal, must give the employee a written statement showing how it has been calculated (section 31P). Failure to comply with this requirement is an offence.