In the wake of the Hong Kong Government’s removal of the statutory vaccine pass requirement, and the adoption of the co-existence approach, the Labour Department announced on 12 April 2023 the repeal of the provisions under the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) (“EO”) relating to a legitimate COVID-19 vaccination request, which will come into effect from 16 June 2023.

The repeal covers all vaccination provisions in the EO, including the ones stipulating that the dismissal of an employee due to non-compliance with a legitimate COVID-19 vaccination request made by the employer is not considered as an unreasonable dismissal. This marks the Government’s attempt to resume normalcy in full.