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Employers will be allowed to sack unvaccinated employees who cannot go to work due to new "vaccine pass" arrangements to be enforced this month, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said.
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In a press conference on Tuesday, Lam said the government will amend the Employment Ordinance to minimize conflicts between employers and employers over anti-epidemic measures.
One amendment will state that employers won't be considered to have made an "unreasonable dismissal" if they fire staffers who cannot carry out their jobs at venues covered by the vaccine pass to launch on February 24.
The pass will cover a total of 23 premises, including bars, restaurants, gyms, cinemas, massage parlors, beauty centers announced earlier, and six more locations named today – shopping malls, wet markets and other markets, supermarkets, department stores, religious venues, and hair salons. Only people who received at least one vaccine jab will be allowed to enter the locations.
Another change to the ordinance will stipulate that employers cannot sack workers due to lockdowns of the estates they live in or if they are sent to quarantine. Those workers will be eligible for sick leave, and their sacking will be considered "unreasonable dismissals" with legal consequences.
Lam also said the government will seek lawmakers' approval to inject HK$26 billion into the Anti-Epidemic Fund.
The unemployed will get a HK$10,000 subsidy for the first time, but authorities are still working on implementation details.
Farmers, tourism, and transport sectors will be among those getting government funding. Frontline workers who join the fight against the pandemic will be getting cash subsides as well – security guards, cleaners, employees facing a high risk of infection, such as airport workers, will get HK$10,000 over five months.
The proposals will be tabled to Legislative Council's Finance Committee next Tuesday.
