On Hong Kong’s employment law and Covid-19 vaccination, the case is not clear cut

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The Hong Kong government has proposed significant amendments to the Employment Ordinance to tackle any issues arising from the vaccine pass scheme and to minimise employment disputes.

The first proposal is that employees subject to lockdown or quarantine orders be entitled to sick leave. Second, if employees are dismissed for the above reasons, it would constitute an unreasonable termination.

The proposal also includes the right to sack employees who fail to fulfil vaccine pass requirements – a right that may go beyond government venues, restaurants and the 23 other types of premises covered under the scheme.

Employers currently have no statutory right to direct employees or potential employees to undergo vaccination. Under section 9 of the Employment Ordinance, summary dismissal is permitted when an employee wilfully disobeys “lawful and reasonable” orders, whether expressly stated in the employment contract or not.

But, given that no case has been tested in court, if an employee refuses to get a jab, it remains unclear whether the employer will be afforded a defence.

Hong Kong also offers protection against direct and indirect discrimination against disability under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance, where disability is broadly defined and includes medical conditions. Employers who discriminate on medical grounds could end up being investigated by the Equal Opportunities Commission.

Dragon Lo Koon-kit, Sha Tin

What recourse for evicted long-term hotel residents?

Two years of government incompetence, has now led to innocent, fully vaccinated, Hong Kong residents being evicted from their long-term “homes” with next to no notice.

A hotel in Wan Chai has been home to me and several other residents for the last 18 months. It offered affordable accommodation during difficult times. While not exactly salubrious, it was deemed as an acceptable solution.

As Covid-19 cases have exploded, the government has decided that to best address the shortage of hospital beds and isolation and quarantine facilities, it needs to take over hotels. This has resulted in hotels such as the one I lived in evicting all residents, short and long term, and hand over its facilities to the government.

We were given, verbally, five days notice last week that we would need to find new accommodation by March 1. This, despite having lived there since September 2020.

The hotel is being handsomely compensated for agreeing to become a “community isolation facility”. One can hardly blame the hotel for agreeing to this deal. However, why should its residents be made to suffer because of the government’s ineptitude?

Someone needs to be held accountable.

Graeme Duncan, Wan Chai

Let the vaccinated exercise in parks mask-free

Hong Kong’s Covid-19 prevention curbs now extend to outdoor activities until April 20, with people required to wear masks while exercising. This will dampen people’s enthusiasm for exercising outdoors and affect their overall fitness, exacerbating their sluggishness during the pandemic.

Instead, the government could consider exempting vaccinated people from this rule by requiring them to use the Leave Home Safe app to enter parks and playgrounds to exercise. This could also complement infection tracking.

Gilbert Pang, Sai Ying Pun

Will tycoons queue to be tested too?

I wonder what the arrangements for citywide Covid-19 testing will be. I live in Island South, so does that mean I will be queuing up at Aberdeen Sports Ground with the families of senior government officials and tycoons, or will there be some special arrangement for the politically connected and the super-rich?

David Jones, Shouson Hill