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Russell Bennett
Legal update: Dismissal of alleged sexual harasser held unlawful under Sex Discrimination Ordinance
Introduction Many employers may be aware of the risk of claims under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (“SDO”) by employees who are subject to sexual harassment during their employment. In contrast, the legal risk that may arise due to any action taken by an employer against…Read More
Legal update: Amendments to Employment Ordinance relating to sickness leave and vaccination requests take effect today
The Hong Kong Legislative Council had passed the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2022 on 15 June 2022. The above Bill is gazetted today and becomes the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2022 (the “EAO”)which takes effect immediately. The EAO does not have a retrospective effect. In short, the…Read More
Head of Employment Practice Russell Bennett ranked as Leading Lawyer by Doyles Guide
Tanner De Witt Partner, and head of the Employment Practice, Russell Bennett is listed in the 2022 release of Hong Kong Employment Lawyers by Doyles Guide. Russell achieves the rank of Leading Lawyer, which Doyles states has, “…been identified by clients and peers for [his] expertise and abilities.”…Read More
Legal update: MPF offsetting arrangement relating to statutory severance and long service payments to be abolished
The Hong Kong Legislative Council has passed the Employment and Retirement Schemes Legislation (Offsetting Arrangement) (Amendment) Bill 2022 with its third reading given on 9 June 2022. Pursuant to the Bill, the existing arrangement under which employers may elect to offset any statutory severance/ long…Read More
Hong Kong Wage Subsidy Update – Overview of Employment Support Scheme 2022
The full details of the new round of the Employment Support Scheme (“ESS 2022”) have been announced by the Hong Kong Government. Under the ESS 2022, the eligible Employers may apply for wage subsidies in respect of the relevant employees during the subsidy period from…Read More
Refinements of the new round of Employment Support Scheme
The HKSAR Government first announced a new round of Employment Support Scheme (the “ESS 2022”) on 18 March 2022. Having consulted the relevant stakeholders, the Government stated on 8 April 2022 that it will launch a ‘perfected version’ of the ESS 2022 by relaxing some…Read More
Hong Kong Wage Subsidy Update – Government announces new round of Employment Support Scheme subject to new rules
The Hong Kong government announced on 18 March 2022 a new round of Employment Support Scheme (“ESS 2022”) in response to the “fifth-wave” of the Covid-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, and intended to target the wage subsidies at small and medium enterprises affected by the…Read More
2022 Joint Circular of SFC and HKMA on Virtual Asset Dealing and Advisory Service
The Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) recently published a joint circular on intermediaries’ virtual asset-related activities on 28 January 2022 (the “Circular”). The Circular supersedes the earlier circular to intermediaries on distribution of virtual asset funds on 1…Read More
Legal Update: Employment (Amendment) Bill 2022 introduces proposed amendments relating to sickness and vaccination requests
The Hong Kong Government had recently tightened the already severe social-distancing measures in view of the 5th wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong and made announcements of other policies it intended to implement in the future. Vaccine Pass Regulation The Government had made…Read More
Legal Update: Proposed amendments to abolish MPF offsetting arrangement relating to statutory severance and long service payments
On 11 February 2022, the Government of the HKSAR published the Employment and Retirement Schemes Legislation (Offsetting Arrangement) (Amendment) Bill 2022 (the “Amendment Bill”) in the Gazette. The Amendment Bill was given the First Reading at the Legislative Council on 23 February 2022. Currently, employers…Read More
Recent District Court decision on whether ‘gweilo’ remark discriminatory
Introduction More than three years ago, we published an article on this site in respect of a District Court claim lodged by a British construction professional (the “Employee”) who alleged that his former employer (the “Employer”) had discriminated against him on the ground of his…Read More
Important points for making discrimination claims highlighted in a recent District Court case by a former student against a local university
The background The Claimant in the case of C v The Chinese University of Hong Kong [2022] HKDC 77 is a former postgraduate student in the Chinese University (the “University”) who was suffering from depression and generalized anxiety disorder during her studies. The Claimant’s studies…Read More
