Hong Kong rolls out vaccination leave for civil servants

In a move to encourage vaccinations in the city, the Hong Kong government has announced that all civil servants would be entitled to a day off for each vaccination dose received from June 1 until August 31.

This will apply to all government employees, which includes civil servants, non-civil service contract staff and post-retirement service contract staff, an official statement read. 

“While introducing the vaccination leave arrangement, we also appeal to employers of other enterprises to join the ‘Early Vaccination for All’ campaign by providing facilitation, where practicable, to their staff to receive vaccination, such as introducing vaccination leave arrangements,” said a spokesman for the Civil Service Bureau. 

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“As the largest employer in Hong Kong, the Government has earlier implemented various measures to drive vaccination at full throttle, such as allowing staff to receive vaccination during duty hours and favourably handling applications for sick leave or vacation leave when staff experience side effects arising from vaccination, and adopting a vaccination in lieu of regular testing approach for front-line employees,” the spokesman added.