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Covid 19
Legal update: Amendments to Employment Ordinance relating to sickness leave and vaccination requests take effect today
The Hong Kong Legislative Council had passed the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2022 on 15 June 2022. The above Bill is gazetted today and becomes the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2022 (the “EAO”)which takes effect immediately. The EAO does not have a retrospective effect. In short, the…Read More
Hong Kong Wage Subsidy Update – Overview of Employment Support Scheme 2022
The full details of the new round of the Employment Support Scheme (“ESS 2022”) have been announced by the Hong Kong Government. Under the ESS 2022, the eligible Employers may apply for wage subsidies in respect of the relevant employees during the subsidy period from…Read More
Refinements of the new round of Employment Support Scheme
The HKSAR Government first announced a new round of Employment Support Scheme (the “ESS 2022”) on 18 March 2022. Having consulted the relevant stakeholders, the Government stated on 8 April 2022 that it will launch a ‘perfected version’ of the ESS 2022 by relaxing some…Read More
Hong Kong Wage Subsidy Update – Government announces new round of Employment Support Scheme subject to new rules
The Hong Kong government announced on 18 March 2022 a new round of Employment Support Scheme (“ESS 2022”) in response to the “fifth-wave” of the Covid-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, and intended to target the wage subsidies at small and medium enterprises affected by the…Read More
Legal Update: Employment (Amendment) Bill 2022 introduces proposed amendments relating to sickness and vaccination requests
The Hong Kong Government had recently tightened the already severe social-distancing measures in view of the 5th wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong and made announcements of other policies it intended to implement in the future. Vaccine Pass Regulation The Government had made…Read More
Sunny Hathiramani to speak at INSOL Focus Webinar 2021
On Tuesday 20 April, Restructuring and Insolvency Partner Sunny Hathiramani will speak on a webinar hosted by the International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Professionals (INSOL International), the foremost organisation for accountants and lawyers who specialise in turnaround and insolvency. The webinar is on cross-border insolvencies under…Read More
Covid-19: Can children be separated from parents during quarantine? (March 2021 update)
This is an update to an article that was published in April 2020. Recently, an international school teacher tested positive after being linked to a spreading gym cluster. Consequently, a class of 8- to 9-year-old students were sent to the government quarantine centre. Following intervention…Read More
I committed a trivial breach of quarantine, do I have to go to prison for it? – A case study on breaches of quarantine under the COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19 struck Hong Kong in early 2020. More than a year later, it is still affecting the lives of many on multiple levels. As a way to control the spread of the virus, the Government of Hong Kong has enacted and updated legislation since March…Read More
Relocation amidst a pandemic: COVID-19 and a wish to permanently leave Hong Kong with children
23 January 2021 marks the one year anniversary of the confirmation that COVID-19 has spread to Hong Kong. In a year filled with uncertainties and challenges, following on from a year of protests in Hong Kong, our Family Practice has seen an increase in enquiries,…Read More
Ian De Witt speaks on panel at American Bankruptcy Institute’s International Insolvency Forum 2020
Restructuring and Insolvency Partner and Co-Head Ian De Witt was recently invited by the American Bankruptcy Institute to speak on a panel at their annual International Insolvency Forum. Held virtually this year from 18 to 20 November, the panel featured speakers such as former US…Read More
BMC v BGC formerly known as WCY [2020] HKCA 317
In an interesting decision handed down recently, the Court of Appeal dismissed a father’s appeal brought against a first instance judgment dismissing his application for the return of his child to the USA from Hong Kong. The application for return was brought under the Child…Read More
Advancing Private Adjudication of financial disputes in matrimonial and family proceedings
The first Private Family Adjudication (‘PFA’) was held recently in Hong Kong. It reportedly ran smoothly and led to a swift decision. It prevented a significant delay in ancillary relief trial proceedings, which had been adjourned due to the impact of Covid-19 on the Courts….Read More
