URGENT - Termination of employment

I recently got laid off and the HR department of my previous employer prepared a set of documents for me to sign off.

For some reason, HR refuses mailing me the documents to allow a review before the sign-off – instead I am being asked to sign them during a face to face conversation with my previous employer. A 7 days deadline from the last day of employment was also mentioned.

Is such behavior legitimate? Is there any reason to prevent me viewing the documents outside the HR department? Which documents do I have to sign, what can I refuse to sign?

Thanks a lot for your help!

franzl, assuming you were made redundant (as opposed to dismissed) be careful on what you do. the law in hong kong is heavily skewed in favour of the employer, so you might not want to play the rebel just now.


i went through a situation of redundancy due to m&a and can share my experience in this regard as i had to sign some docs myself plus had some colleagues who got all fired up and making grand statements about documents they will sign, lawsuits they will instigate and so on. in the end everyone signed and nothing happened.


why? mainly it's because the law is pretty minimalistic. as a result, most employers give you more financial compensation that they would have to, and through that usually buy off your consent to whatever regulations/documents they put in front of you.


the legal minimum in case of redundancy is 2/3 of a monthly salary for every year worked offset against any employer contribution to MPF that is above the legal minimum (which usually is 12k/year). assume you worked 3 years, earned 50k/month and your employer has paid 5% of your salary (=2.5k) into an ORSO scheme or similar.


legal minimum of redundancy amount is 3 years x 2/3 of 50k - (2.5k-1k legal MPF min)x36 months = 46k if i got this right.


many employers though give 1 month salary for every year worked straight = 150k but ask you to sign confidentiality agreements, plus a hundred other conditions. nothing too harming but still not nice.


so you can refuse to sign and get 46k or sign it all and get 150k. your choice...

[UPDATE] Please note that fee quotes stated in historic postings may be out-of-date.


This is unfortunately a typical practice; it is not necessary to you to succumb to it unless it has been agreed in your employment arrangement. Your agreement with your employer is embedded in the agreement you have signed (and documents therein referred that you have been provided with) in the context of HK Employment Law. Inform your employer that you need to receive their payment calculation and the last payment owed by them forthwith (within the statutory time period since your departure). Inform them that there is nothing you intend to sign the employment having ended; IF they have some extra for you to sign ask that they provide it via mail or email to you so you can have your advisors review. If you have the desire for a reference letter now is the time to ask. IF the document they send (assuming they will) is innocuous then you might sign in to keep up the relationship (after of course you have it professionally reviewed).


Weir & Associates

Solicitors & Notaries

16th Floor Tak Shing House

20 Des Voeux Road Central

Central

Hong Kong

Tel : 2526-1767

Fax : 2868-3568

Email : WeirLaw@weirandassociates.com

www.weirandassociates.com/weirlaw

It does sound a little crass that they will not give you a heads up on what their offer is, but then there is nothing to stop them doing this.

Hate to contradict Cookie, but actually the legal minimum that they need to pay you in redundancy is not 2/3 of your current monthly salary for each year but 2/3 of HKD22,500 (which is HKD15,000 per year worked).

MNCs will tend to offer either 2/3 of current monthly salary, or even as Cookie says one month's salary for each year.

So anything above the legal minimum is better than required. Make sure you know what all your enetitlements really are before you go for the meeting.

It sounds like you will need to have your best negotiating hat on when you go into HR.

Good luck.

you're right spurtio, it's even worse than i remembered.


the full ordinance is here: http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/wcp/ConciseGuide/10.pdf

Indeed, and in addition (and I have never understood the rationale for this) the company has the right to claw back the payments that it made into the employees MPF fund.

I can't work that one out.