The Hong Kong Government announced last week that The Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 (“Ordinance”) - passed by the Legislative Council on 9 July 2020 - will come into operation on 11 December 2020.
Under the Ordinance, statutory maternity leave will be extended by 4 weeks, to a total of 14 weeks. The leave must be taken continuously.
Nick Dealy and Ashima Sood have contributed the Hong Kong chapter for the 2021 International Comparative Legal Guide (ICLG) to Competition Litigation. The chapter covers common issues in competition litigation law and regulations in Hong Kong, including interim remedies, final remedies, evidence, justification/defences, timing, settlement, costs, appeal, leniency and anticipated reforms.
Chris Wong and Kenix Yuen have been quoted in an article in Economic Digest on winding up. The article touches on points to note on various situations of winding up including compulsory winding-up and voluntary winding-up.
Chris Wong and Kenix Yuen have been quoted in an Economic Digest article on commercial disputes and PPE scams. They explore four case studies on PPE scams and remind SMEs to stay cautious, maintain clear internal communication, and include relevant terms in purchase agreements when ordering PPE.
We recently acted for the joint provisional liquidators of Rare Earth Magnesium Technology Group (“the Company”) appointed by the Supreme Court of Bermuda in a conventional application for the recognition of the Bermuda soft-touch provisional liquidation of the Company.
September 24th, 2020 – Gall has been awarded “Hong Kong Firm of the Year” by Benchmark Litigation in its Asia-Pacific Awards 2020. The awards, which celebrate leaders and law firms in 11 practice areas and 14 jurisdictions around the region, were judged on innovation, complexity and impact.
One of the changes brought about by Covid-19 is a shift in work practices particularly in relation to working from home. This has brought to the fore the question of whether employees have to work in the case of adverse weather conditions such as Black Rainstorm warnings, Typhoon signal 8 (or above) and/or “extreme conditions” caused by super typhoons (“Adverse Weather”). In this article, we consider arrangements that employers may consider putting in place during Adverse Weather conditions.
COVID-19 has created unforeseen challenges to businesses all over the world, resulting in many companies being unable to survive the pandemic. Hong Kong has been no exception. In Hong Kong, according to data published by the Hong Kong Government’s Official Receiver’s Office, in the first seven months of the year, 5219 compulsory bankruptcy petitions and 247 compulsory winding-up petitions were presented, representing 13.7% and 5.1% year-on-year increase respectively. The effect of COVID-19 may yet be fully reflected by these figures.
Gall has been awarded “Labour and Employment Firm of the Year” by AsiaLaw in its annual awards which celebrate domestic and regional law firms across 25 jurisdictions. All winners were judged on innovation, complexity and impact.
The Government has announced that the application for the second tranche of the Employment Support Scheme (“ESS”) is set to open on 31 August 2020 until 13 September 2020 (“Application Period”). Employers who wish to apply for ESS relief must submit a new application for the second tranche.Self-employed individuals who have already received a one-off lump sum subsidy in the first tranche will not be able to apply for the second tranche of the ESS.
