2. What is a "continuous" contract of employment?
A “continuous” contract of employment is a statutory concept under the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) that determines whether an employee qualifies for certain additional statutory benefits beyond the Ordinance’s basic protections.
With effect from 18 January 2026, according to Schedule 1 of the Employment Ordinance, an employee is regarded as being employed under a continuous contract if:
- The employee has been employed continuously by the same employer for four weeks or more; and
- The employee meets either of these working-hours tests: (i) worked at least 17 hours in each week; or (ii) if the employee worked less than 17 hours in any week, worked 68 hours or more in a four-week period comprising that week and the three weeks next preceding that week (and the employee must have been employed by the employer during that four-week period).
Hence, a part-time employee who fulfils the above requirements is also employed under a continuous contract.
All employees who are covered by the Employment Ordinance, irrespective of their hours of work, are entitled to basic protection under the Ordinance including the payment of wages, restrictions on wage deductions and the granting of statutory holidays, etc. However, employees who are employed under a continuous contract are further entitled to such benefits as rest days, paid annual leave, sickness allowance, severance payment and long service payment, etc.
If a trade or business is transferred from one person to another, the period of employment of an employee in that trade or business at the time of the transfer shall count as a period of employment with the transferee (the "new boss"). In other words, the transfer shall not break the continuity of the period of employment for that employee.
In any dispute about whether a contract of employment is a continuous contract or not, the burden of proving that it is not a continuous contract will be on the employer.
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