Non-local employees to enjoy equal rights and obligations as locals, gov’t confirms

The Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) has affirmed that the rights and obligations of non-local employees mirror those of local workers, stating that proposed changes to maternity leave and annual leave accrual provisions will equally apply to non-local staff.

The proposed amendments to the Labor Relations Law include increasing maternity leave from the current 70 days to 90 days and establishing a mechanism for granting additional leave days based on years of service.

The first public consultation session on these amendments was held on Sunday, with the director of DSAL, Chan Un Tong, in attendance.

The session reportedly included remarks from 13 members of the public, who raised concerns about the impact of absenteeism on annual leave and seniority calculations, questioned whether the new amendments would apply to non-local employees, and proposed raising the minimum annual leave entitlement from six days to seven or eight days while shortening the accrual period.

Another suggestion called for increasing the maximum annual leave entitlement from 20 days to 22 days.

Over a hundred citizens registered to attend the session, presenting several proposals, including aligning with neighboring regions to simultaneously increase paid paternity leave for men. Participants urged the government to consider making related subsidy measures permanent and to expand subsidy amounts to alleviate the burden on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Additionally, they suggested that maternity leave duration should be determined based on specific childbirth circumstances, such as multiple births or cesarean sections, allowing mothers to receive an additional 15 days of paid maternity leave. Recommendations also included providing subsidies of no less than 30 days to micro, small, and medium enterprises.

In their individual responses, authorities emphasized that current regulations ensure that the rights and obligations of non-local employees are, in principle, the same as those of local workers.

They clarified that the newly added maternity leave days and subsequent amendments to annual leave provisions “in principle” apply to expatriate employees.

Regarding the calculation of annual leave, authorities noted that if expatriate employees have their employment approval renewed and continue working for the same enterprise, their service tenure can be accumulated continuously, allowing their annual leave days to increase based on their length of service. According to the bureau, part-time employees, regardless of their working hours, will be covered by the relevant provisions of this amendment as long as they are employed by the enterprise.

The consultation document proposes adjusting the current annual leave system to a mechanism where leave days incrementally increase based on years of service, starting with an entitlement of six days and granting an additional day for every two years of service, up to a maximum of 12 days.

In response to concerns from SMEs, the labor chief acknowledged that increased annual leave days could disrupt daily operations. To address these business pressures while ensuring the prudent use of public funds, the current maternity leave subsidy policy for SMEs will be extended, with the subsidy period increased to 20 days to cover the additional maternity leave days.

According to the bureau, when maternity leave was extended in 2020, the subsidy initially applied to all enterprises, providing a 14-day salary subsidy to local female employees taking maternity leave.

However, since 2024, the subsidy has been adjusted to apply only to SMEs. Under the current application process for the maternity leave subsidy, employers must first fully pay their employees’ maternity leave wages and then submit an application to the bureau, including payroll slips, bank transfer records, and other supporting documents.