Hong Kong government employees are expected to be able to take up to 12 hours of family care leave each year from January 2027, under a new scheme aimed at helping civil servants balance work and family responsibilities.
The initiative was announced in this year's Policy Address. The government plans to introduce family care leave for its employees from next year, making it the fourth type of leave related to family care needs.
The Civil Service Bureau is finalizing the details and implementation arrangements. The scheme is expected to take effect in January 2027 after consultation with staff representatives.
According to the bureau's latest paper submitted to the Legislative Council, the leave will allow employees to briefly step away from work in specific circumstances to attend to family needs. These include accompanying family members to medical appointments, caring for sick relatives, attending children's school activities and handling unexpected household matters.
Each government employee will be entitled to a maximum of 12 hours of family care leave annually. Any unused leave remaining at the end of the year cannot be carried forward to the following year.
The leave will be taken on an hourly basis, with employees able to apply for between one and four hours each time.
Under normal circumstances, employees will only need to submit an application form before taking the leave, stating the reason for their request. Supporting documents will not be required.
If an employee is unable to submit an application in advance due to an unforeseen circumstance, they may first seek approval from the relevant approving officer verbally or through other means, and submit the application form as soon as possible after taking the leave.
However, if an approving officer has doubts about an application or suspects abuse of the arrangement, they may request supporting documents from the applicant.
The bureau also noted that the government introduced marriage leave and compassionate leave in April 2024 to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities. As of the end of June this year, about 7,500 applications for marriage leave and around 23,000 applications for compassionate leave had been approved.
Meanwhile, approximately 15,600 applications for parental leave, introduced in April last year, had also been approved.
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