Why Are There Such Big Differences Among Sick Leaves?

How does sick leave differentiate? Should an employee take paid or no-paid sick leave? How many sick leave days are employees allowed in a year? I believe that many employers would like to ask the same question. Regardless of whether the employee is really sick, let’s take a look at what to look out for.

In Hong Kong, there are three common types of sick leave: no-paid sick leave, continuous sick leave and full-paid sick leave. The three kinds of sick leave are different in terms of amount, calculation method, and payroll calculation to meet different application scenarios.

No-paid Sick Leave

Example 1: Lucy is an OL of a fortune 500 company. One day in June 2021, she sprained her foot in an accident and needed hospital treatment. Suppose Lucy needs to apply for sick leave from June 5th to June 8th (Saturday to Tuesday). According to the Employment Ordinance, since June 5th and June 6th (Saturday and Sunday) are paid rest days, Lucy only applies to the employer for sick leave on June 7th and June 8th (Monday and Tuesday). In other words, it’s less than 4 days, which does not meet the requirements of continuous sick leave. So Lucy can get full paid on Saturday and Sunday, and no-paid sick leave on Monday and Tuesday.

*No-paid sick leave is an unlimited leave. If an employee needs to take a sick leave due to medical conditions, and the employer has to approve it, but if the leave is less than 4 consecutive days, the employer does not have to pay.

In Workstem, there is no need to set the quota generation method for no-paid sick leave.

Continuous Sick Leave

Example 2: Chris works as a tallyman in a chain supermarket. One day in April 2021, he had a fever without cause and needed to be hospitalized for observation. Suppose Chris needs to apply for sick leave from April 17th to April 21st (Saturday to Wednesday). According to the Employment Ordinance and Chris’s schedule of the month, April 17th and April 18th (Saturday and Sunday) are normal working days, i.e. sick leaves are more than 4 days, which meets the requirements of applying for continuous sick leave.

* There is a quota limit to the continuous sick leave. Under the Employment Ordinance, an employee under a continuous employment contract is entitled to two paid sick leave days for every month of service completed in the first year of employment; After that, he/she can accumulate 4 days after working for 1 month. Paid sick leave may continue to accrue throughout employment, but not exceeding 120 days at any time. The employer is required to pay 4/5 of the average daily wage (ADW) to the employee as sick leave allowance when the employee is required to take 4 or more days of leave due to medical conditions.

For continuous sick leave, Workstem has built in the calculation method in accordance with the Labour law, and employers do not need to modify it.

Full-paid Sick Leave

Example 3: Selina works as a marketing specialist in a foreign company. Starting in 2021, the company will give its employees one day of sick leave on full pay at the beginning of each month in order to increase their loyalty to the company during the pandemic. Suppose Selina applies for sick leave from May 7th to May 9th (Friday to Sunday). Since May 8th and May 9th (Saturday and Sunday) are paid rest days, Selina only applies for May 7th (Friday) to the employer as a sick leave day. Then after deducting the amount of sick leave with full pay in the current month, Selina can get the whole monthly salary in May without any deduction.

* Some companies will give employees 1 or 2 days of sick leave with full pay each month, which is not required by the law and belongs to employee welfare leave.

For full-paid sick leave, employers need to enter 1 or 2 in “No. of One-time Leave Days” in Workstem according to the actual situation of the company, and select “Fixed monthly” as issuance frequency.

In summary, Workstem has been committed to making it easier for employers to better manage employees and provide more personalized options to cater for different employee needs. For different types of sick leave, employers can set according to the actual situation of the enterprise. All the problems can be solved with just a few clicks of the mouse! Now click on the link below to immediately experience a 14-day one-stop human resources (HR) system free trial!

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