Hong Kong law gives a domestic helper three separate kinds of time off: a weekly rest day, statutory holidays, and paid annual leave. They come from different sections of the Employment Ordinance, they follow different rules, and they are settled differently when a contract ends. Mixing them up is one of the most common ways employers accidentally underpay — and one of the most common Labour Tribunal claims.
1. The weekly rest day
Every helper gets at least one rest day in every period of seven days — a continuous 24 hours. The employer picks the day and can vary it with notice, but cannot skip it, and cannot pay money instead of granting it. For a monthly-paid helper the rest day is effectively paid: the fixed monthly wage covers every day of the month.
A helper may voluntarily agree to work on a rest day in exchange for a substitute day, but the employer must not compel it — compelling rest-day work is an offence.
2. Statutory holidays — and the 3-month rule
Statutory holidays are the fixed public dates in the Employment Ordinance — Lunar New Year, Ching Ming, Labour Day, and so on. The list has been growing by one day every two years: 14 days in 2024–25, 15 days from 2026 (Easter Monday joined the list in 2026), on the way to 17 by 2030.
Two separate entitlements hide inside “statutory holiday”:
- The day off itself — every helper gets it from day one of employment, regardless of length of service. It cannot be bought out with money; that is prohibited outright.
- Holiday pay — only after the helper has worked 3 months of continuous service before the holiday.
What the first 3 months look like in practice
A holiday that falls inside the helper's first 3 months must still be granted, but it is an unpaid day. For a monthly-paid helper that means the employer may make a proportionate deduction for the day not worked — one day's wage at that month's actual length (salary ÷ 31 in October, ÷ 30 in September). The Employment Ordinance permits deductions for absence from work that are proportionate to the absence; what it forbids is docking holiday pay the helper has already qualified for, or paying cash instead of granting the day off.
If the helper works on a statutory holiday
The employer must arrange an alternative holiday within 60 days, with at least 48 hours' notice. If the contract ends and a qualifying holiday was worked with no alternative day ever granted, that day's holiday pay is owed as wage arrears in the final settlement — priced at the 12-month average daily wage.
3. Paid annual leave
Annual leave accrues by years of service on a rising scale: 7 days in each of the first two years, then one extra day per year — 8 in year 3, 9 in year 4 — up to a maximum of 14 days from year 9 onward. A standard 2-year contract therefore banks 14 days across its life.
- Leave is taken at a time agreed between the parties, and the employer should consult the helper before fixing the dates.
- Only leave beyond 10 days in a year can be exchanged for pay during employment — the first 10 days must actually be taken.
- At the end of a contract, all accrued but untaken leave is paid out in cash — it never lapses. A helper with 3+ months of service in the current leave year also gets pro-rata leave pay for that part-year.
What this costs at the end of a contract
Untaken annual leave is paid at the 12-month average daily wage (roughly monthly salary × 12 ÷ 365). On a HK$5,100 salary, 14 untaken days is about HK$2,350 — a real line item employers forget to budget. Add any qualifying worked-but-never-substituted statutory holidays and the numbers move quickly.
The fastest way to see the exact figure for your dates is the HelperDoc termination cost calculator — it knows the official holiday list, applies the 3-month rule automatically, and shows the arithmetic line by line.
Quick reference table
- Rest day — 1 per 7 days, from day one, cannot be bought out.
- Statutory holiday — 15 days from 2026; day off from day one, holiday pay after 3 months' service; worked holidays need a substitute day within 60 days.
- Annual leave — 7 days rising to 14 by year 9; unused balance is always cashed out at the end of the contract.