How to prepare an employment contract?

It may be a challenging task for start-up companies to prepare an employment contract. While you can ask our company incorporation team to provide you with a standard template, you can draft one by taking note of the followings.

Under section 44 of the Employment Ordinance, employer must inform employee of the conditions of employment, including but not limited to wages, i.e. wage rate, overtime rate and any allowances, wage period, length of notice required to terminate the contract, and end of year payment and the payment period (if any).

Under section 70 of the Employment Ordinance, any term of an employment contract, which purports to extinguish or reduce any right or protection conferred to an employee by the Ordinance, shall have no legal effect. In other words, even if an employee signs and agrees with the terms, the terms will be considered invalid.

Change of terms and conditions during employment

If you have to make any change to the conditions of employment, clients are reminded to explain the proposed change to their employees. We recommend you to conduct a consultation with employees if you have to change material terms of the contract. If both parties agree to the change, the employer must give a copy of the written amendment to the employee upon receipt of written request. For details, please see section 45 of the Employment Ordinance.

While GSHK does not provide legal advice, our staff will be happy to share our business experience. Alternatively, you can contact practicing solicitors for independent legal advice.

*Note: GSHK is not an employment agency. We specialize in Hong Kong Company Formation and accounting service. However, we understand non-local customers may require comprehensive guidance and support. Hence, we’d be happy to answer any of your questions so you can focus to develop your business.