1. Eligibility

Full-time staff members appointed on regular terms (after passing their probation, if any) are eligible for the provisions of Marriage Leave, Paternity Leave (applicable to male staff only), Adoption Leave and Bereavement Leave.

2. Provision

2.1 Marriage Leave: five working days of Marriage Leave with full pay may be granted to a staff member within six months from the date of his/her marriage.

2.2 EdUHK Paternity Leave: seven working days of Paternity Leave with full pay may be granted to a male staff member who is the father of a new-born child or a father-to-be. A staff member may take Paternity Leave during the period from 4 weeks before the expected date of delivery of the child to such a day within six months from the actual date of the child’s birth.

2.3 Adoption Leave: three working days of Adoption Leave with full pay may be granted to a staff member within six months from the adoption date.  The adopted child(ren) should be aged below 12 and will be living together with the staff member in Hong Kong. The earliest start date of adoption leave should be the adoption date.

2.4 Bereavement Leave: five working days of Bereavement Leave with full pay may be granted to a staff member in the event of a death of his/her immediate family member (viz., spouse, parent, parent-in-law, children including adopted child and step child, sibling and grandparent) within two months from the date of decease of the immediate family member.

2.5 All types of leave mentioned above can be taken on a half-day basis. It may be taken consecutively or separately.

2.6 Marriage Leave, Paternity Leave (except the statutory provisions), Adoption Leave and Bereavement Leave are not provided as a form of contractual entitlement to staff members. They are subject to approval and the period of the leave cannot be used as part of the notice period of resignation.

3. Application

3.1 Staff members are required to complete the Leave Application Form which is obtainable from the HRO website, and submit it together with the following supporting documents as early as possible to the Head of Department/Centre/Office or Line Manager, as appropriate, for approval: 

1. Marriage Leave: a copy of the marriage certificate, or a statutory declaration or a sworn statement certifying to the public commitment ceremony;
2. Paternity Leave: a medical certificate indicating the expected date of confinement and a birth certificate bearing the staff member’s name as the child’s father after the child’s birth respectively (Note: The staff member concerned is required to give prior notification to the EdUHK of his intention to take paternity leave at least 3 months before the expected date of delivery of the child and the date of his paternity leave before taking the leave. Otherwise, he is required to notify the EdUHK of his date of paternity leave at least 5 days before that date.);
3. Adoption Leave: legal document showing the adoption date of the child; and
4. Bereavement Leave: no supporting document is required. Staff members should state some basic information in the Leave Application Form, e.g., relationship with the deceased and date of the death. The University reserves the right to require the applicant to provide supporting document for taking Bereavement Leave whenever it deems necessary.

3.2 Approved applications should be forwarded to the HRO for record purpose.

Last updated in January 2019