Statutory Holidays in Hong Kong in 2026 - A Complete Guide

Planning around statutory holidays is essential for businesses in Hong Kong to maintain compliance and minimize disruptions. In 2026, there are 15 statutory holidays, and failing to provide the correct entitlements can lead to legal risks and payroll complications.

Whether you’re managing local employees or expanding your operations, understanding these holidays will help you stay compliant and optimize workforce planning.

Statutory Holidays in Hong Kong 2026

Differences Between Statutory Holidays and General Public Holidays

In Hong Kong, there are two types of holidays you’ll hear about, statutory holidays and general public holidays. While both offer a break from work, they aren’t quite the same thing, and how they’re observed can vary depending on the industry.

Statutory holidays, sometimes called labour holidays, come from the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) and are the legal minimum every employer must grant. General holidays come from the General Holidays Ordinance, number 17 in total, and are the days observed by banks, government offices, and most white-collar employers.

Industries that generally provide only statutory holidays include:

• Retail and food service
• Security and cleaning services
• Logistics and transportation
• Construction and manufacturing
• Domestic helpers

Whereas industries that typically observe all 17 public holidays (including the 4 additional public holidays) include:

• Banking and finance
• Government and public sector
• Legal and professional services
• Multinational corporations
• Schools and educational institutions

Industries that follow a Monday to Friday workweek typically align with international business norms, meaning public holidays are more commonly observed. For both employers and employees, understanding these differences is crucial as it helps ensure compliance with Hong Kong’s labor laws and sets clear expectations in the workplace.

The Phased Increase to 17 Holidays

Hong Kong is gradually aligning statutory holidays with general holidays, which is why the number keeps changing. The Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 set out the schedule:

Who Is Entitled and How Holiday Pay Works

Every employee covered by the Employment Ordinance is entitled to statutory holidays, including part-time staff and domestic helpers, regardless of how many hours they work or how long they have been employed.

Holiday pay is a separate question. An employee qualifies for paid statutory holidays once they have been employed under a continuous contract for at least three months immediately before the holiday. A continuous contract means working at least 18 hours a week for four or more consecutive weeks.

Where an employee qualifies, holiday pay equals their average daily wages over the 12 months preceding the holiday. When calculating that average, you exclude periods of unpaid leave, sick leave, maternity or paternity leave, and any other unpaid absence, along with the wages paid for them. For employees with less than 12 months of service, the average is calculated over their actual period of employment.

Working on a Statutory Holiday

You can require an employee to work on a statutory holiday, provided you grant a replacement day.

The replacement holiday must fall within 60 days before or after the original holiday, and you must give the employee at least 48 hours' notice of the arrangement. An alternative holiday outside that window can be agreed with the employee, but it requires their consent.

Paying an employee extra instead of granting the day off is not permitted. The Employment Ordinance prohibits payment in lieu of statutory holidays, whatever the employee agrees to, so a buy-out arrangement is unenforceable and exposes you to a claim.

When a Holiday Falls on a Rest Day

If a statutory holiday falls on an employee's rest day, you grant the holiday on the following day, provided that day is not itself a statutory holiday, an alternative holiday, a substituted holiday, or another rest day.

Two dates in 2026 illustrate this. Chung Yeung Festival on 18 October falls on a Sunday, so an employee whose rest day is Sunday takes the holiday on 19 October. Ching Ming Festival on 5 April also falls on a Sunday, and because the following day is Easter Monday, which is already a statutory holiday, the substituted day moves to the next day that is not a holiday or rest day.

Statutory Holidays for Remote Employees

Employees working remotely have the same entitlements as office-based staff. What determines the entitlement is the contract they are employed under, not where they physically sit.

An employee on a Hong Kong employment contract is entitled to statutory holidays even if they work from outside Hong Kong. An employee engaged under a foreign contract falls under that jurisdiction's rules instead.

Excluding remote staff from statutory holidays on the basis of location alone is not permitted, and holiday pay for remote employees follows the same 12-month averaging calculation.

Keep in mind that you must retain wage and employment records for seven years. Those records are what demonstrate to the Labour Department that entitlements and substituted holidays were granted and calculated correctly.

Managing Hong Kong Holidays with RecruitGo

RecruitGo's Employer of Record service handles the employment side of your Hong Kong team, including the holiday entitlements that change every couple of years.

We run payroll with holiday pay calculated on the correct 12-month averaging, apply the substitution and rest day rules when your team works through a holiday, and keep the wage and employment records the Labour Department expects. Your holiday calendar stays current without anyone on your side tracking amendments to the Employment Ordinance.

If you are hiring in Hong Kong for the first time, we can employ your staff without you setting up a local entity, with onboarding typically taking 2 to 5 business days. Book a demo and tell us who you are hiring.