Male Filipino domestic workers, mostly drivers, may not be aware of it, but they are
now entitled to statutory paid paternity leave for three days.
Hong Kong's Labour Department began implementing the Employment (Amendment)
Ordinance 2014 on statutory paternity leave on Feb 27 this year, an official of the agency
reminded domestic workers in a post-arrival orientation seminar on Aug 23.
Jace Chan, assistant manager of the department's Workplace Consultation Promotion
Division, said the paternity leave is one of the paid leaves that all qualified workers are entitled to under
Hong Kong laws.
A male employee with a child born on or after Feb 27 is entitled to three days' paid
paternity leave if he had been employed on a continuous contract for not less than 40 weeks
immediately before the day of his paternity leave.
Chan did not give further details of this policy, but information on the Labour
Department website shows that paternity leave could be taken consecutively or separately each time the
worker's wife/partner delivers a baby, as long as he fulfills other requirements.
Male helpers may take paternity leave any time during the four-week period before the
expected date of delivery of the child to or within the 10 weeks after the child's actual birth.
Qualified employees may receive a daily rate of four-fifths of their average wages as
paternity leave pay, according to the website announcement.
A male worker must also provide his employer with the birth certificate of his child, on
which his name is entered as the child's father, within the stipulated period.
Chan, a twice-monthly guest resource speaker at the PAOS held every Sunday by the
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, briefed the newly arrived domestic workers on the provisions
of their work contracts.
Last Sunday, about 40 workers attended the seminar at the Philippine Overseas Labor
Office conference room on the 11th floor of the Admiralty Centre Tower 1.
On paid medical leaves, Chan said the workers should be also be aware that they are entitled
to two paid sick leave days per month for the first 12 months of their employment.
The entitlement increases to four paid sick leave days per month after the 12 month. Paid
sick leave days can be accumulated for up to 120 days, she said.
Chan also reminded the workers that they should not pay their Hong Kong employment
agencies more than 10% of their first monthly salary as commission.
In employer-worker disputes that are adjudicated at the labour tribunals, an employer who
is ordered to pay an award must do so, or she would be liable to a fine of up to $350,000, Chan said.
The labour official also said domestic workers are covered by the Employees
Compensation Ordinance, which requires employers to buy insurance coverage for them.
If a worker suffers a work-related injury, she would be able to claim compensation, Chan
said. If she dies from her injury, the employer is liable to pay her death benefit and bear the costs
of shipping her remains back to her country, that is why the employer needs to buy insurance for
the worker, Chan said.
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