Paid paternity leave for male domestic workers in HK

Male Filipino domestic workers, mostly drivers, may not be aware of it, but they are now entitled to statutory paid paternity leave for 3 days. Hong Kong’s Labor Department began implementing the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 on statutory paternity leave on February 27 this year, an official of the agency reminded domestic workers in a post-arrival orientation seminar on August 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 February 27 is entitled to 3 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.