Severance Payment Claim Form (Hong Kong)

A Hong Kong Severance Payment Claim Form is a formal written claim by an employee to their former employer for Severance Payment under Part VA of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57). Severance Payment is a statutory benefit payable to eligible employees in Hong Kong who are dismissed by reason of redundancy, or who are laid off or placed on short-time work in circumstances specified by the Employment Ordinance.

Part VA of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) — the primary employment legislation in Hong Kong — establishes the Severance Payment regime as a statutory right for qualifying employees. Section 31F of the Employment Ordinance defines redundancy as the circumstances in which the employer has ceased or intends to cease carrying on the business in the place where the employee was employed, or the requirements of the business for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in Hong Kong (or in the place of employment) have ceased, diminished, or are expected to cease or diminish. Section 31H creates a rebuttable statutory presumption of redundancy — where a dismissal occurs in circumstances consistent with redundancy, the employee is presumed to have been dismissed by reason of redundancy, and the burden falls on the employer to disprove redundancy.

The statutory Severance Payment formula under Part VA is: two-thirds of last month's wages multiplied by the number of years of completed continuous service, subject to a monthly wage cap (currently HK$22,500 for calculation purposes) and an overall payment cap (currently HK$390,000). Additional months beyond complete years of service are counted proportionately.

The Labour Department is the Hong Kong government department responsible for administering employment legislation and providing conciliation services for labour disputes including Severance Payment claims. The Labour Tribunal — a statutory tribunal established under the Labour Tribunal Ordinance (Cap. 25) — hears contested Severance Payment claims where conciliation has failed. The Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (Cap. 380) provides a last-resort safety net for employees whose employers are insolvent and cannot pay Severance Payment.

The MPF offset mechanism — which currently allows employers to offset Severance Payment obligations against the employer's mandatory MPF contributions — is a significant feature of the Hong Kong Severance Payment regime. The Hong Kong Government has enacted legislation to phase out the MPF offset, with a government subsidy scheme for affected employers during the transition period. The current legal position must be verified at the time of each claim.

Severance Payment claims in Hong Kong are governed by a statutory presumption of redundancy under Section 31H of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57): where a dismissal occurs in circumstances consistent with redundancy, the employee is presumed to have been dismissed by reason of redundancy, and the burden shifts to the employer to disprove redundancy. This presumption significantly strengthens the legal position of employees whose roles have been eliminated or whose functions have been contracted out. The Labour Tribunal — established under the Labour Tribunal Ordinance (Cap. 25) — is the primary forum for contested Severance Payment claims and operates without a court filing fee, making it accessible to employees at all income levels. The Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (Cap. 380) administered by the Labour Department provides a safety net for employees whose employers become insolvent and cannot pay Severance Payment.

A Hong Kong Severance Payment Claim Form is needed whenever an employee who has completed at least 24 months of continuous employment under a continuous contract is dismissed by reason of redundancy. The claim should be submitted to the former employer promptly after the dismissal to establish a formal record of the entitlement and give the employer the opportunity to settle voluntarily.

Employees whose roles are eliminated in a corporate restructuring, downsizing, departmental reorganisation, or business closure are the most frequent claimants of Severance Payment. The key legal question is whether the dismissal was by reason of redundancy — a diminution in the employer's requirement for employees to perform the relevant type of work — rather than for performance or disciplinary reasons, which would not give rise to Severance Payment.

Employees made redundant during mergers and acquisitions — where the acquiring company consolidates operations and eliminates duplicate roles — are entitled to Severance Payment for the period of service with the acquired employer, provided the 24-month threshold is met and a genuine redundancy exists.

Employees placed on lay-off (no-work, no-pay status) for four or more consecutive weeks, or kept on short-time work (less than half normal weekly wages) for specified periods, can claim Severance Payment even without formal dismissal. These lay-off and short-time work triggers under sections 31E and 31D of the Employment Ordinance protect employees from employers who attempt to avoid Severance Payment obligations by indefinitely suspending rather than formally terminating employment.

Where an employer offers re-engagement on the same or no less favourable terms and the employee unreasonably refuses, the Severance Payment entitlement may be lost — section 31G of the Employment Ordinance preserves the employer's right to make a genuine offer of re-engagement to avoid the Severance Payment obligation. Employees who receive such an offer should take legal advice before refusing.

The claim must be submitted within the applicable limitation period under the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347), which provides a 6-year limitation period for claims based on simple contract, running from the date the cause of action accrued (i.e., the date of termination). Employees should not delay submitting a Severance Payment claim — prompt submission creates a clear paper trail and enables conciliation to commence through the Labour Relations Division of the Labour Department if the employer disputes the claim.

A complete Hong Kong Severance Payment Claim Form must contain all the information required by Part VA of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) to establish the employee's entitlement, calculate the correct payment amount, and give the employer the necessary details to process or contest the claim.

The claimant's details must include the employee's full name, HKID number, contact address, telephone number, and email address. These details identify the claimant and provide the means for the employer and, if necessary, the Labour Department's conciliation officer or the Labour Tribunal, to contact the claimant.

The employment details must state the name of the former employer, the place of employment, the employee's job title and department, and the commencement date of the employee's employment under the current continuous contract. The commencement date is the starting point for calculating the years of continuous service and for determining whether the 24-month qualifying threshold has been met.

The termination date is the date on which the employment ended. For dismissal cases, this is the effective date of dismissal. For lay-off cases, it is the date on which the employee served a notice claiming Severance Payment.

The redundancy facts must be clearly stated: what happened to cause the dismissal or lay-off? The employee should describe, in factual terms, the circumstances of the redundancy — for example, that the employer closed the relevant business unit, eliminated the employee's role, or reduced its workforce in the relevant category. The connection between these facts and the statutory definition of redundancy under section 31F of the Employment Ordinance should be explained.

The Severance Payment calculation must be set out: last month's wages (or average monthly wages over the 12 months before termination if wages were variable), the applicable wage cap (HK$22,500 per month), the number of complete years of service and any additional months, the two-thirds fraction, and the resulting total Severance Payment. The claim should also address the MPF offset position — how much the employer is entitled to offset from the employer's mandatory MPF contributions against the calculated Severance Payment.

The supporting documents that should accompany the claim include: a copy of the employment contract; pay slips for the last 12 months of employment; written notice of termination (if any); any correspondence from the employer regarding the redundancy; and MPF account statements showing the employer's mandatory MPF contributions.

The claim should be submitted in writing, dated, and signed by the employee. A copy should be retained by the employee. Delivery by registered post or email with read receipt provides evidence of submission date. The forms-legal.com Severance Payment Claim Form is drafted for qualifying employees under Part VA of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) and pairs with the Long Service Payment Claim and 418 Continuous Employment Letter available on the platform. The forms-legal.com Severance Payment Claim Form is drafted for qualifying employees under Part VA of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) and pairs with the Long Service Payment Claim and 418 Continuous Employment Letter available on the platform. The claim should be retained by the employee as a formal record of assertion of entitlement. The claim should be submitted in writing, dated, and signed by the employee. A copy should be retained by the employee. Delivery by registered post or email with read receipt provides evidence of the submission date. The forms-legal.com Severance Payment Claim Form is drafted for qualifying employees under Part VA of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) and pairs with the Long Service Payment Claim and 418 Continuous Employment Letter available on the platform.