When is an employment contract legally terminated immediately? When can an employee not be fired?

Terminating an employment contract may be an unpleasant thing, but if you encounter an unsuitable employer/employee, under what circumstances can you terminate the employment contract immediately? In fact, there are some reasons listed in the Employment Ordinance, that allow you to legally terminate the guest-host event without issuing/paying payment in lieu of notice.

Grounds on which an employer can legally and immediately terminate an employment contract:

According to Hong Kong’s “Employment Ordinance”, if there are reasonable grounds, the employer can dismiss the employee immediately, and in this case, the representative employer does not need to give prior notice and does not need to pay the employee in lieu of notice.

It should be noted that “summary dismissal” is a “serious disciplinary action” and it can only be applied when an employee is found to have committed some very serious mistakes or has not made improvements after repeated warnings.

Circumstances in which an employer can immediately terminate an employment contract include:

• The employee willfully disobeys an order given by the employer which is lawful and reasonable;

• employee misconduct;

• The employee has committed fraudulent or disloyal acts toward the Company;

• The employee is too routinely neglecting his duties.

In the above situation, if the employee is only caused by participating in any form of strike, the employer may not be able to immediately terminate the employment contract, nor can it be used as a legal reason.

1. Grounds on which an employee may legally and immediately terminate an employment contract:

On the contrary, the “Employment Ordinance” also protects the rights and interests of employees. If the employer is found to be in the following situations, the employee can also terminate the employment contract immediately without prior notice or payment in lieu of notice:

– the employee has a reasonable fear of physical harm from employer/work-induced violence or disease;

– being mistreated by the employer;

– The employee has worked for the employer continuously for not less than 5 years and has been issued a designated medical certificate by a registered doctor or a registered Chinese medicine practitioner to prove that he is permanently unfit for the current job.

2. Under what circumstances can an employer not fire an employee?

The Employment Ordinance protects employees from unjust dismissal under certain circumstances. These include maternity protection, during paid sick leave, when giving evidence or information to the Labor Department, participating in union activities, or during a work-related injury.

• Maternity protection:

An employer cannot dismiss an employee who has been certified pregnant and has given notice of pregnancy.

• During paid sick leave:

An employer cannot fire an employee while the employee is on paid sick leave.

• Provide evidence or information to the Labor Department:

An employer cannot dismiss an employee because the employee has provided evidence in legal proceedings relating to the enforcement of the Employment Ordinance, accidents at work, or violations of work safety legislation or provided information to public officials conducting inquiries.

• Participate in trade union activities:

An employer may not dismiss an employee because of his participation in a trade union or trade union activities.

• During a work-related injury:

An employer cannot dismiss an employee without reaching an agreement on workers’ compensation with the employee who has been injured at work, or before the relevant assessment certificate has not been issued.

What if an employer fires an employee in the above circumstances?

Once the employer chooses to dismiss the employee under the above circumstances, it is illegal and liable to prosecution.

was fined HK$100,000.

The above information is for reference only. If you have any questions about tax declaration and accounting, we welcome your inquiries.