Gov't to improve maternity benefits
The Government today gave notice to Legislative Council that it will move an amendment to uplift the cap of the additional four weeks’ maternity leave pay in the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 to $80,000.
The bill will resume its second reading debate at the June 24 meeting of the Legislative Council.
The bill proposes that the maternity leave (ML) under the Employment Ordinance be increased by four weeks and taken by the employee continuously after the 10 weeks' ML.
The current statutory rate of maternity leave pay (MLP), which is four-fifths of the employee’s average daily wages, will be maintained for calculating the additional MLP in respect of the extension of ML, subject to a cap of $36,822 per employee.
Employers may apply to the Government for full reimbursement of the additional MLP that is required to be paid under the bill.
Taking account of the community’s views and to further enhance the protection of pregnant employees, the Government gave notice to the council that it will move an amendment to uplift the cap of the additional four weeks’ MLP in the bill from $36,822 to $80,000.
It said this amount already exceeds the four weeks’ MLP based on a monthly wage of $100,000, which accounts for over 99% of female employees in Hong Kong, with reference to 2018 statistics.
If the amendment is passed by the council, the cap of the additional MLP that employers may apply to the Government for reimbursement will correspondingly be $80,000 per employee, it added.
Updated on 15 Jun, 2020