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Russell Bennett
Legal Update: Court rejects Deliveroo rider’s claim as employees
Web-Platform workers such as Uber drivers and food delivery ‘riders’ are part of a new and developing group in Hong Kong, which has greatly expanded during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. The District Court case of Gurung, Sanjayaman v Deliveroo Hong Kong Limited [2024] HKDC…Read More
Risk of not handling discrimination complaints properly. Victimisation claim even where the discrimination case is dismissed.
The English Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) judgment in Miss E Carozzi v University of Hertfordshire and Ms A Lucas [2024] EAT 169 (“Carozzi”) is a recent example demonstrating that victimisation claim can arise even where the underlying discrimination claim may not be meritorious and in…Read More
Legal Update – MMT sanctions against China Forestry Holdings Company Limited CEO for market misconduct – order to disgorge HKD353,430,000
On 28 November 2024, the Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) announced that the Market Misconduct Tribunal (“MMT”) ordered: 1) Mr. Li Han Chun, the former chief executive officer of China Forestry Holdings Company Limited (“China Forestry”), formerly listed on the Main Board of the Stock…Read More
Legal Update: Damages awarded for employee’s breach of fiduciary duties
In Green Light Multiplex Co. Ltd v Lam Shi Yan and Another [2024] HKCFI 2101, the Court of First Instance considered a dispute of an employee being alleged of breaching his fiduciary duties and an employer being alleged of breaching the implied duty of mutual…Read More
Legal Update: Key Points on Employment Issues from 2024 Policy Address
In the 2024 policy address by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, a number of notable employment related issues were mentioned. We summarise the key issues below: Statutory Severance/ Long Service Payment Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund Statutory Minimum Wage Employment Ordinance Russell…Read More
Legal Update: The Court confirms that employer’s duty of trust and confidence does not apply to the right to terminate
In the recent decision of Yang Zhizhong v Nomura International (Hong Kong) Limited [2024] HKCFI 2192 handed down by the Court of First Instance, the employer was successful in defending against the claims of breaches of implied terms of the employment contract. In that case,…Read More
Overview of Anti-Discrimination Laws in Hong Kong
By way of summary, we set out below a brief overview of major aspects of the laws relating to unlawful discrimination and harassment in Hong Kong. Where relevant we have also embedded links to other more detailed descriptions of aspects of the law governing these…Read More
Legal Update – Beware of the Risk of Sex Discrimination in Job Advertisements
“Female migrant workers from Guangdong Province will be given priority” (original Chinese wording: 「廣東省新移民女工優先」) is a sentence that appeared in a recent job advertisement for various positions in a dumpling restaurant chain in Hong Kong (see this link to the news report from 24 September…Read More
AI in the workplace: Employment law risks from using AI
The use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) can provide benefit to all sectors of the economy. This requires AI to be deployed in workplaces. Employers and HR teams must be mindful of ethical and privacy risks that arise from the use of AI in recruitment and…Read More
Legal update: Compensation and disqualification order granted against a company officer who did not receive misappropriated funds
Does it excuse misconduct in the eyes of a securities regulator if the company officer did not personally profit from and receive misappropriated funds? John Lee of Tanner De Witt explains that the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (“SFC”) will still enforce, and…Read More
Legal Update: Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Ordinance (Cap. 650) to come into effect in January 2026
The Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Ordinance (Cap. 650) (the “Ordinance”) was gazetted on 19 July 2024, and will come into operation on the expiry of 18 months thereafter (i.e. January 2026) (the gazetted version can be accessed here).The Ordinance requires certain specified professionals to…Read More
Legal Update: Importance of Contemporaneous Records in Defending Against Discrimination Claim
In a recent decision of Guting, Joan Sarmiento, Deceased v Choy Chiu Yee Rita [2024] HKDC 747 handed down by the District Court, an employer was successful in defending against a disability discrimination claim by a domestic helper. It appears from the judgment that the…Read More
