Statutory Holidays 2027 for Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong

Direct answer: A foreign domestic helper in Hong Kong is entitled to 15 statutory holidays in 2027, starting with 1 January and ending with the first weekday after Christmas on 27 December. The Labour Department's 2027 list was last revised on 29 May 2026. The count is the same as 2026 and rises to 16 in 2028. Good Friday and the day after it are public (general) holidays in 2027 but not statutory holidays, so you are not required to give them.

This guide is for Hong Kong families who employ a foreign domestic helper and want to set the 2027 household calendar now. It covers the dates, the difference between statutory and public holidays, holiday pay, what to do when a holiday lands on your helper's rest day, and how to handle a day when you need your helper to work. Every rule here comes from the Labour Department or GovHK, with links so you can check the current page yourself.

The 15 statutory holidays for 2027

The Hong Kong Labour Department lists these 15 statutory holidays for 2027. Weekdays are added for planning. See the official Labour Department 2027 list.

Two items on this list need a note.

The fourth day of Lunar New Year. The second day of Lunar New Year in 2027 is Sunday 7 February. Under the Employment Ordinance, when the first, second or third day of Lunar New Year falls on a Sunday, the fourth day becomes the statutory holiday instead. That is why 9 February is on the list and 7 February is not.

Winter Solstice or Christmas Day. The employer picks one of the two, not both. In 2027 that means Wednesday 22 December or Saturday 25 December. Tell your helper which day you chose when you share the year's calendar, so nobody finds out in December.

Print this table, mark your choice for item 14, and put it on the fridge or in a shared phone calendar. Both you and your helper then work from the same dates.

Statutory holidays vs public holidays

Hong Kong has two holiday lists, and people mix them up every year.

General holidays are what most people call public holidays. GovHK gazettes them, and banks, schools and most offices close. For 2027 the list is every Sunday plus 17 other days. See the GovHK general holidays for 2027.

Statutory holidays are the days the Employment Ordinance requires every employer to give every employee, whatever their length of service. This is the list that applies to your helper. In 2027 there are 15.

The gap between the two lists in 2027 is small:

1. Good Friday, 26 March 2027. A general holiday, not a statutory holiday.
2. The day following Good Friday, 27 March 2027. A general holiday, not a statutory holiday.
3. Christmas Day, 25 December 2027. A general holiday. It is a statutory holiday only if the employer picks it over Winter Solstice.

So if your office closes on Good Friday, your helper is not automatically off. You can still give these days off, for example when the children are home from school. That is your choice, so put it in writing to avoid a dispute later. If you do give an extra day off, it does not replace any of the 15 statutory holidays.

How the count grew from 12 to 17

Before 2022, Hong Kong employees had 12 statutory holidays. The Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 was gazetted on 16 July 2021. It adds five days in stages until the statutory list matches the general holidays other than Sundays. Read the government press release on the amendment.

Each new holiday takes effect on 1 January of its year. The Labour Department said at the time that the other statutory holiday rules stay the same, including holiday pay eligibility, the rate of pay, and the ban on paying money instead of a holiday.

If your helper's contract runs across 2027 and 2028, plan for 16 days in the second year. The Labour Department's Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance already shows Good Friday as the 16th statutory holiday from 2028. See Chapter 4 of the Concise Guide.

How 2027 compares with 2026

If you searched for the 2026 list, here is the short version. Both years have 15 statutory holidays with the same names, except that 2027 uses the fourth day of Lunar New Year in place of the second day. See the Labour Department 2026 list.

The fixed dates (1 January, 1 May, 1 July and 1 October) do not move.

The biggest practical difference is Sundays. In 2026, three statutory holidays fell on a Sunday: Ching Ming Festival, the Birthday of the Buddha and Chung Yeung Festival. For a helper who rests on Sundays, each of those clashes meant giving a replacement day. In 2027, none of the 15 statutory holidays falls on a Sunday. If your helper rests on Sundays, 2027 has no clashes to manage.

For the rest of 2026, two dates remain after this guide's publication: your choice of Winter Solstice (Tuesday 22 December) or Christmas Day (Friday 25 December), and the first weekday after Christmas, Saturday 26 December.

Holiday pay and the 3-month rule

Two separate rules apply, and families often merge them.

The day off. Every employee is entitled to statutory holidays regardless of length of service. A helper who arrived in Hong Kong last week still gets 1 January off.

Holiday pay. A helper is entitled to holiday pay once they have been employed under a continuous contract for at least 3 months immediately before the statutory holiday. The daily rate equals the average daily wage the helper earned in the 12 months before the holiday. If the helper has worked for you for less than 12 months, the shorter period is used. For a run of consecutive holidays such as Lunar New Year, the calculation date is the first day of the run.

Holiday pay must be paid no later than the next normal pay day after the holiday.

For a live-in helper on a fixed monthly wage under the ID 407 contract, the practical effect is simple. Pay the full monthly wage as usual and record that the holiday was taken. Do not treat a statutory holiday as unpaid leave. If you have a question about pay for a holiday in your helper's first 3 months, ask the Labour Department before changing anything. The Employment Ordinance restricts deductions from wages, and the contract fixes the monthly amount. Our guide to Hong Kong helper salary and contract rights covers the wage floor and payment rules.

When a holiday falls on your helper's rest day

Your helper is entitled to at least one rest day in every 7 days, and a rest day is a continuous period of at least 24 hours. A statutory holiday is a separate entitlement. When the two land on the same date, the helper does not lose one of them.

The Labour Department rule: if a statutory holiday falls on a rest day, the employer must give a holiday on the next day that is not a statutory holiday, an alternative holiday, a substituted holiday or a rest day.

Here is how that works in 2027 for the two most common rest-day patterns.

Sunday rest day. No 2027 statutory holiday is on a Sunday. Note that Sunday 7 February is a normal rest day, not a statutory holiday, because the fourth day of Lunar New Year replaces it. Your helper's Lunar New Year break is Saturday 6 February, Sunday 7 February (rest day), Monday 8 February and Tuesday 9 February.

Saturday rest day. Three dates clash:

1. Lunar New Year's Day, Saturday 6 February. The next day that is not a statutory holiday or rest day is Sunday 7 February, so that becomes the replacement holiday. With 8 and 9 February, the helper is off for four days in a row.
2. Labour Day, Saturday 1 May. The replacement is Sunday 2 May.
3. Christmas Day, Saturday 25 December, if you chose Christmas over Winter Solstice. The replacement is Sunday 26 December, and Monday 27 December is already a statutory holiday. If you chose Winter Solstice on Wednesday 22 December instead, there is no clash on 25 December, because Christmas is then not a statutory holiday in your household.

If your helper's rest day moves around from week to week, check each statutory holiday against the rest days you set for that month.

When you need your helper to work on a statutory holiday

Rest days and statutory holidays follow different rules here.

Rest days. You must not compel your helper to work on a rest day except in a breakdown or other unforeseen emergency. If that happens, you must give a substitute rest day within 30 days and tell the helper about it within 48 hours.

Statutory holidays. You can require work on a statutory holiday, but only if you arrange an alternative holiday and give notice. The Concise Guide sets two options:

There is also a substituted holiday, which needs agreement from both sides. If you and your helper agree, the helper can take any day within 30 days before or after the statutory holiday or the alternative holiday as a substituted holiday.

The rule families get wrong most often is cash. You cannot pay your helper extra instead of giving the holiday. The Labour Department FAQ uses Lunar New Year as its example: if your helper works all 3 Lunar New Year statutory holidays, you must arrange 3 alternative holidays, together or separately, with at least 48 hours notice. See the Labour Department FDH FAQ.

An employer who without reasonable excuse fails to grant statutory holidays, alternative holidays or substituted holidays, or fails to pay holiday pay, can be prosecuted and fined up to HK$50,000.

If you know in January that you will travel over Lunar New Year or Christmas and need help at home, agree the alternative days with your helper early. Write them on the same calendar as the statutory dates.

How statutory holidays fit with annual leave and home leave

Paid annual leave is a third entitlement on top of rest days and statutory holidays. A helper gets paid annual leave after every 12 months of service under a continuous contract. It starts at 7 days for the first and second years, then rises by one day a year to a maximum of 14 days after 9 years. You set the timing after talking with your helper and confirm it in writing at least 14 days in advance, unless you both agree to a shorter notice period.

When a statutory holiday or rest day falls inside a block of annual leave, the Concise Guide says that day counts as annual leave and you must appoint another rest day or holiday. Your helper does not lose the statutory holiday by taking leave over it. For example, if your helper takes annual leave from 4 to 10 February 2027, the Lunar New Year statutory holidays inside that period must be given back on other days.

Contract renewal adds one more break. The FDH FAQ notes that under Clause 13 of the Standard Employment Contract, a helper who renews should return to their place of origin at the employer's expense for a paid or unpaid vacation of at least 7 days before the new contract starts, unless the Immigration Department approves an extension of stay. Our guide to applying for a domestic helper in Hong Kong explains the contract and visa steps.

The live-in requirement also applies on holidays. The Labour Department's employer page says a helper must work and reside at the employer's residence named in the contract throughout employment, including rest days, statutory holidays and paid annual leave spent in Hong Kong. See the Labour Department employer corner.

Record-keeping for holidays and leave

The Employment Ordinance requires every employer to keep a wage and employment record for each employee, covering the last 12 months of employment. The record must include periods of annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave and holidays entitled and taken, with details of payments for those periods. You must keep it for another 6 months after the employment ends. An employer who fails to keep the record can be fined up to HK$10,000. See Chapter 2 of the Concise Guide.

For a household, a simple routine covers this. Use this checklist when you set up the 2027 calendar:

• Print the 15 statutory holidays for 2027 and mark whether you chose Winter Solstice or Christmas.
• Note your helper's normal rest day and list any 2027 clashes with the replacement dates.
• Record each statutory holiday as taken, or as worked with the alternative or substituted date.
• Keep written notice (a dated message is fine) for every alternative holiday you arrange.
• Record annual leave dates, the written notice you gave, and the leave pay.
• Keep each month's wage payment record, such as a bank transfer receipt.
• Ask your helper to sign or acknowledge the yearly summary, and give them a copy.

A shared calendar plus monthly bank transfers handles most of the evidence. The Labour Department also tells employers to keep helpers' leave and payment records to avoid disputes later. If your helper is Filipino and asks about their rights, our guide to Filipino domestic helper rights in Hong Kong explains the same rules from the helper's side.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many statutory holidays does a domestic helper get in Hong Kong in 2027?

A foreign domestic helper in Hong Kong is entitled to 15 statutory holidays in 2027, the same number as in 2026. The Labour Department list runs from 1 January to 27 December. The count rises to 16 in 2028, when Good Friday is added.

What is the difference between a public holiday and a statutory holiday in Hong Kong?

General holidays, often called public holidays, are the days banks, schools and government offices close. Statutory holidays are the days the Employment Ordinance requires every employer to give, including employers of domestic helpers. In 2027 there are 17 general holidays besides Sundays but only 15 statutory holidays. Good Friday (26 March) and the day following Good Friday (27 March) are general holidays only.

Do I have to pay my helper for statutory holidays?

Your helper gets every statutory holiday off from the first day of employment. Holiday pay applies once the helper has worked for you under a continuous contract for at least 3 months before the holiday. The daily rate is the average daily wage over the previous 12 months, paid no later than the next normal pay day.

Can I pay my helper extra money instead of giving a statutory holiday?

No. The Employment Ordinance bans payment in lieu of a statutory holiday. If you need your helper to work on a statutory holiday, you must arrange an alternative holiday within 60 days before or after it and give at least 48 hours notice. An employer who fails to grant statutory holidays can be fined up to HK$50,000.

What happens if a statutory holiday falls on my helper's rest day?

The helper gets the holiday on the next day that is not a statutory holiday, alternative holiday, substituted holiday or rest day. In 2027 none of the 15 statutory holidays falls on a Sunday. If your helper rests on Saturday, 6 February, 1 May and 25 December (if you choose Christmas) need a replacement day.

A practical next step for families

Set the 2027 calendar with your helper before January. Agree the rest day, mark the 15 statutory holidays and your Winter Solstice or Christmas choice, and write down any alternative days you already know you need. If you are still looking for a helper, browse the Hong Kong market page, read more family guides, and create a family account to post your household's needs.