Hong Kong Public Holidays and Pay Rules for 2026

It’s easy to think of a public holiday schedule in Hong Kong as simply a list of dates. Something you glance at, maybe plug into a calendar, and then move on.

But it’s not quite so simple.

Because each of those days reaches into other parts of the business. It shifts when payroll runs. It changes how you staff a team. And if someone ends up working that day, it affects what you owe them—sometimes in ways that aren’t obvious at first.

So this guide is meant to lay it all out plainly. The official 2026 holiday calendar, yes—but also the pay rules that actually matter in practice. And then, the small, concrete steps you can take so that, when those dates come around, payroll is still accurate and nothing gets missed. 

2026 Hong Kong public holiday calendar

The dates below are gazetted general holidays for 2026. Sundays are also general holidays in Hong Kong, but most employers treat them as weekly rest days and track them separately.

Statutory holidays are not the same as public holidays. In Hong Kong, employees have a legal minimum set of statutory holidays, while many employers also give the broader public holiday list. Your employment contract should spell out which list applies.

Starting in 2026, Easter Monday became a statutory holiday. The statutory holiday date for Ching Ming Festival was April 5, even though the gazetted public holiday was the day following.

When Hong Kong employees get the day off with pay

In Hong Kong, all employees are entitled to statutory holidays. Statutory holiday pay generally applies once the employee has been employed under a continuous contract for at least three months. That means payroll needs to separate two questions every time a holiday comes up: whether the date is a statutory holiday, and whether the employee has already qualified for paid statutory holiday pay under the continuous contract rules.

For a public holiday that’s not also a statutory holiday, whether the day is paid depends on your employment contract and company holiday policy. Many employers give the broader public holiday calendar as a paid benefit, especially for office teams. Others follow the statutory minimum only. What matters most is that your contract, handbook, HRIS settings, and payroll process all line up.

Hong Kong statutory holiday pay rules for payroll

How to calculate statutory holiday pay

Statutory holiday pay is based on the employee’s average daily wages over the 12 months before the holiday date. If the employee has worked for less than 12 months, use the shorter period.

When you calculate average daily wages, you generally need to exclude periods where the employee was not paid full wages, along with the wages for those periods. That often includes rest days, statutory holidays, annual leave, sickness days, maternity leave, paternity leave, and certain no-work days agreed with the employer. For a practical overview, see Pebl’s guide to holiday pay.

When statutory holiday pay must be paid

Statutory holiday pay should be paid no later than the next wage payment after the statutory holiday.

Why you can’t buy out a statutory holiday

You can’t replace a statutory holiday with cash in lieu, except where termination rules apply. In normal operations, the holiday has to be given.

Rules for when an employee works on a Hong Kong holiday

If an employee works on a statutory holiday

You can require an employee to work on a statutory holiday, but you need to follow the process set out under Hong Kong law.

• Give at least 48 hours’ notice 
• Provide an alternative holiday within 60 days before or after the statutory holiday 
• If you and the employee agree, allow a substitute holiday within 30 days of the statutory or alternative holiday

Here’s a simple example. Say you need someone to work on National Day on October 1, 2026. You must give at least 48 hours’ notice. Then you can assign an alternative holiday on another date within 60 days before or after October 1. If both sides agree, you can instead set a substitute holiday within 30 days of the statutory or alternative holiday.

If an employee works on a public holiday that’s not statutory

For a public holiday that’s not also a statutory holiday, the Employment Ordinance rules for statutory holiday substitution don’t automatically apply. Your contract and policy should spell out whether you give premium pay, a substitute day, or standard pay with time off.

A practical move is to mirror your statutory holiday process wherever possible. That keeps HR and payroll from managing two different playbooks for similar days.

Substitute day rules when a holiday falls on a rest day

If a statutory holiday falls on the employee’s rest day, you must grant a holiday on the day following the rest day that’s not itself a statutory holiday, alternative holiday, substituted holiday, or rest day.

A useful 2026 example is the Ching Ming Festival. The statutory holiday fell on Sunday, April 5. Hong Kong’s official calendar shows that the gazetted general holiday was observed on April 6. If Sunday was also the employee’s rest day, you would have needed to check the surrounding holiday pattern carefully before assigning the correct substitute day.

Hong Kong holiday compliance checklist for employers

Use this checklist before the year starts and again before payroll runs around major holiday periods.

• Confirm which holiday schedule applies. Check whether each Hong Kong employee is on statutory holidays only or your full public holiday schedule 
• Document the rules clearly. Put holiday treatment in the employment contract and employee handbook 
• Flag holiday work in your time tracking. Make sure managers and payroll can see when work happened on a statutory holiday 
• Set up a notice process. Have a reliable way to issue the required notice for statutory holiday work 
• Track alternative and substitute holidays. Record dates, approvals, and usage in your HRIS 
• Use the 12-month average wage method correctly. This is where small payroll errors often start 
• Keep clean records. You should be able to produce them in an audit, dispute, or labor inspection

Edge cases that can trip up payroll

• New hires under three months of continuous employment. They get statutory holidays, but paid statutory holiday treatment may not yet apply 
• Employees are paid hourly or with variable commissions. Average daily wage calculations need extra care 
• Holidays that fall on rest days. Substitute day rules can get messy fast if the holiday period is crowded 
• Clusters of holidays close together. You need to pick the correct lookback date for the 12-month average wage calculation

FAQs

Are bank holidays in Hong Kong the same as public holidays?

Usually, when people say bank holiday in Hong Kong, they mean a general public holiday. For employers, the more important distinction is public holiday versus statutory holiday.

Do I have to give every employee the full public holiday list?

No. The legal minimum is the statutory holiday list. Many employers offer a wider public holiday calendar, but that’s usually a contract and policy choice.

If someone works on a statutory holiday, do they also get holiday pay?

Yes, if they qualify for statutory holiday pay. Working the day doesn’t cancel the holiday pay entitlement. You still need to follow the notice and alternative holiday rules.

Can I pay cash instead of giving employees the day off?

Not for a statutory holiday in normal circumstances. Cash in lieu is not a substitute for granting the holiday.

Leveraging EORs in Hong Kong

If you want to hire in Hong Kong without setting up a local entity, an employer of record (EOR) can handle the local employment layer for you, including payroll, contracts, and statutory leave administration. That matters more than it sounds. Holiday calendars in Hong Kong can look straightforward until you hit substitute days, continuous contract rules, and average wage calculations.

How Pebl can help

Pebl’s global Employer of Record (EOR) service helps you set the right entitlement policy for each worker, calculate holiday pay correctly, and track alternative and substitute days so payroll stays accurate. If you need EOR in Hong Kong, broader global payroll, or context on paid vacation days by country, we give you one place to manage the moving parts without opening a local entity. And if you’re comparing regional practices or year-end policies, our guide to holiday bonuses in various countries can also help you spot where holiday rules start to differ across markets.

Hong Kong holiday compliance is manageable when your contracts, leave policies, and payroll process all match. Pebl helps you keep those pieces aligned so you can hire confidently and pay people correctly.

Reach out today to learn more.

This information does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or tax advice and is for general informational purposes only. The intent of this document is solely to provide general and preliminary information for private use. Do not rely on it as an alternative to legal, financial, taxation, or accountancy advice from an appropriately qualified professional. The content in this guide is provided “as is,” and no representations are made that the content is error-free. 

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