Hiring employees in Hong Kong (2026)

Hiring in Hong Kong through an Employer of Record (EOR) adds an employer cost of 5% on top of gross pay, and that is essentially the whole statutory payroll bill. It goes into the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), the retirement scheme, and the employee puts in a matching 5% from their own pay. Compare that with many other countries and the contribution layer is light. There is no 13th-month salary, no statutory overtime premium, and no general notice period built into law beyond a seven-day minimum. The EOR becomes the legal employer, runs monthly payroll, enrols the person in MPF, and arranges the employees' compensation insurance that must be in force before day one.

The numbers worth keeping in your head are these. The statutory minimum wage is HK$43.10 per hour from 1 May 2026, and it is an hourly test, not a monthly salary. Annual leave starts at 7 days, there are 15 statutory holidays in 2026, and maternity leave is 14 weeks. Income tax is paid by the employee through the annual assessment, not deducted monthly like PAYE, so your payroll is simpler than in many countries. The harder part is often immigration. A General Employment Policy application normally takes about four weeks once the paperwork is complete, so get right-to-work sorted before you promise a start date.

Your main statutory cost is the 5% employer MPF contribution, capped at HK$1,500 per month on the HK$30,000 maximum income level. For example, someone on HK$30,000 a month costs you HK$31,500 before extras. The employee's own 5% comes out of their gross pay, so it is not an extra charge for you. Employees' compensation insurance is also required, but its premium depends on the actual duties, so it is a separate quote, not a fixed percentage. On top of that, add any agreed bonus or benefits and the EOR fee.

Hong Kong is light on statutory costs, but a few rules catch employers out.

• Minimum wage is hourly, not monthly. Covered pay must meet hours worked multiplied by HK$43.10, and from 1 May 2026 total hours must appear in wage records for covered staff earning below HK$17,600 per month. A monthly salary does not remove the test.
• An end-of-year bonus can become a legal obligation. There is no mandatory 13th-month salary, but a contractual end-of-year payment is enforceable, and for contracts made after 27 June 1997 an annual payment is presumed contractual unless the written terms say it is discretionary. Word it carefully.
• Severance and long service payments are no longer covered by employer MPF. For employment ending on or after 1 May 2025, mandatory employer MPF can't offset these payments for service from that date, so don't budget on the old offset. Payments are capped at HK$390,000 in total.
• Leaving the territory triggers tax paperwork. For someone leaving Hong Kong permanently, the IR56G departure filing normally goes in a month ahead, and final pay can be held back for up to a month or until the tax authority releases it. Plan this alongside final-pay duties.