Understanding Your Contract

In this section:
Standard Employment Contract (ID 407)
Points to be Covered in the Contract
End of Contract
Help and Contacts

In Hong Kong, you will be given an employment contract which you and your employer will need to sign. This contract is one of the most important documents during your employment in Hong Kong, as it outlines your rights and obligations. It is important, therefore, for you to understand what it should contain and what it actually contains.

Standard Employment Contract (ID 407) 
The Hong Kong government has provided a template which should be used by you and your employer. It is usually referred as Standard Employment Contract or Form ID 407. If you do not understand the language used in the contract, do not hesitate to ask your employer or your agency to provide you with a contract in your language. If not given, you may want to compare it with the translated version of the Standard Employment Contract on the website of the Hong Kong Labour Department (available in Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia, Tagalog, and Thai)

After the contract has been signed, it will later be given to the Immigration Department for approval. The Immigration Department will later issue an employment visa for you, so that you can start working legally. The date of issuance of the visa is the date you can start working for your employer. Your visa should also mention until what date you are eligible to stay in Hong Kong. Top

Points to be Covered in the Contract 
The Standard Employment Contract outlines the points need to be covered in the contract between you and your employer. They are:

• Identities of yours and your employer (name and ID number of the employer, name and address of the worker in country of origin); 
• Date and day of the signature of the contract; 
• Address of the employer, where you will later work and reside. Please note that you are legally allowed to live and works only at this address; 
• Your rights under the contract which include wages, provision of food or food allowance and accommodation, rest days, statutory holiday, and paid annual leave, reimbursement of costs by the employer, and free medical treatment; 
• Your duties, which are mentioned in ‘Schedule of Accommodation and Domestic Duties for the Employer’ attached to the contract. Hong Kong government does not provide a definition or an exhaustive list of ‘domestic duties’ but it generally includes household chores (such as cleaning up the house), cooking, looking after aged persons in the household (for example, parents of the employer), baby-sitting, and child-minding; Clauses regarding the termination of the contract. Generally you or your employer can terminate the contract with one month notice. But for more detailed discussion on this, click here; 
• Things that are illegal for you to do: 

a) To work in a place which address is other than what is mentioned in the contract. This means you are not allowed to work, for example, at the employer’s other house (if she has more than one). However, you are permitted to do grocery shopping for your employer. You are also permitted to bring food to or to take care of a sick member of your employer’s family in the hospital, as long as it is temporary and not for a long period of time;
b) To perform non-domestic duties which are not mentioned under the Schedule of Accommodation and Domestic Duties for the Employer. For example, it is illegal to work as a shopkeeper at your employer’s shop;
c) To drive a vehicle, even though the vehicle belongs to the employer; and
d) To take other employment, whether full or part time, with any other person but your employer.

In the case where your employer asks you to do those illegal things, you should refuse and inform her that it is prohibited by law. If you do any of those illegal things, both you and your employer can be criminally prosecuted. Top

End of Contract
If you and your employer are happy with your employment and neither of you wish to break it, you can work for your employer under the same employment contract for a maximum of two years. You and your employer should sign a new contract, if both of you want to continue the employment after two years.

Before you can start working for the same employer under the new contract, you will have to first leave Hong Kong for at least seven days. Your employer should bear the cost of you leaving Hong Kong.

There are probably some circumstances where your employer does not want you to leave Hong Kong immediately after the two year contract is finished. For example, your employer has not found a replacement for you and there is an elderly who intensively needs to be taken care of. In that case, upon agreement between you and your employer, you may apply for an extension of stay to the Immigration Department.

You can also work for a new employer upon the completion of your two years contract. But even in this case you will have to leave Hong Kong first and apply for a new visa.

Click here for more information if your contract has been terminated before the completion of the two-year work period. Top

Help and Contacts
If you have any question concerning your employment contract, do not hesitate to contact us on our hotlines at +852 9565 7440, email fadwu.hk@gmail.com , Facebook Page, or Whatsapp +852 9565 7440. You can also contact the following organisations, which will also be able to help you without any charge:

List of organisations Top