The Minimum Wage Ordinance: Consequential Amendments to the Employment Ordinance and the Disability Discrimination Ordinance

A number of amendments have been made to the Employment Ordinance and the DDO as a result of the MWO commencing operation on 1 May 2011.

1. Employment Ordinance

In addition to the amendments which require employers to keep records of the total number of hours worked by an employee in a wage period, amendments have also been made in respect of employees who are student interns or work experience students.

For an employee who is a student intern and to whom the MWO does not apply, an employer has to keep records issued by an institution showing that the period of work is arranged or endorsed by the institution in connection with a programme being provided by the institution to the employee.

For an employee who is a work experience student and to whom the MWO does not apply, an employer has to keep a statutory declaration provided by the employee verifying the fact that no period during another contract of employment to which the work experience student was a party and that commenced in the same calendar year as the current contract with the employer was a period of exempt student employment; and a document issued by an institution showing that the employee is at the commencement of the employment enrolled in a programme being provided by the institution that is of a kind covered by the definition of "work experience student".

2. DDO

i. to request only persons who hold a valid Registration Card for People with Disabilities issued by the Central Registry for Rehabilitation established by the Government to be assessed in relation to their degree of productivity;

ii. to pay a minimum wage to a person with a disability that is less than that payable to a person without such a disability;

iii. to dismiss a person with a disability on account of the outcome of an assessment made under the MWO.

Key Contacts

Cynthia Chung

Partner | Corporate Commercial | Employment and Pensions

Email or call +852 2825 9297