Employment Ordinance

(1)
No deductions shall be made by an employer from the wages of his employee or from any other sum due to the employee otherwise than in accordance with this Ordinance.
(2)
The following deductions may be made by an employer from the wages of his
employee—
(a)
deductions for absence from
work:
Provided
that—
(i)
in the case of a contract of employment under which wages are calculated on a basis of time, no such deduction shall exceed a sum proportionate to the period of time during which the employee was absent from work;
(ii)
no such deduction shall be made for the purpose of defraying or partly defraying the cost of holiday pay or sickness allowance which the employer has paid or may be or may become liable to pay to the employee;
(Replaced
39 of 1973 s. 4
)
(b)
deductions for damage to or loss of goods, equipment or property belonging to or in the possession or control of the employer or expressly entrusted to an employee for custody, or for loss of money for which an employee is required to account, where such damage or loss is directly attributable to his neglect or
default:
Provided
that—
(i)
the total amount recoverable by deduction in any one case shall not exceed the equivalent in value of the damage or loss suffered by the employer or $300, whichever is the less; and
(ii)
the total of such deductions in any one wage period shall not exceed one quarter of the wages payable to the employee in respect of that wage period;
(c)
deductions in respect of meals supplied by the employer at the request of the employee not exceeding the cost to the employer of such meals including expenses of production and service;
(d)
deduction for accommodation provided by the employer for the employee or his family made in respect of the period such accommodation has been in the occupation of the employee or his family;
(e)
deductions for the recovery of any advance or
over-
payment of wages made by the employer to the
employee:
Provided
that—
(i)
except with the approval in writing of the Commissioner, no such deductions shall be made by way of discount, interest or any similar charge in consideration of such advance or over-payment; and
(ii)
the total of such deductions in any one wage period shall not exceed one quarter of the wages payable to the employee in respect of that wage period;
(f)
deductions, with the written consent of an employee, for the recovery of any loan made by the employer to the employee;
(g)
deductions made at the request in writing of the employee in respect of contributions to be paid by him through the employer for the purpose of any medical benefit scheme, superannuation scheme, retirement scheme or thrift scheme lawfully established for the benefit of the employee or his dependants;
(Amended
41 of 1990 s. 17
)
(3)
Except with the approval in writing of the Commissioner, the total of all
                deductions, excluding deductions in respect of absence from work or any deduction
                pursuant to an attachment order made under
section 20(1)
of the
                Guardianship of Minors Ordinance (
Cap. 13
),
section
                    9A(1)
of the Separation and Maintenance Orders Ordinance (
Cap. 16
) or
section 28(1)
of the Matrimonial
                Proceedings and Property Ordinance (
Cap. 192
), made
                under this section from the wages of an employee in any one wage period shall not
                exceed one half of the wages payable to the employee in respect of the wage period.
(Amended
69 of 1997 s. 34
)
(4)
Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing an employer from paying to an employee at any time before the due date the amount of wages and other remuneration proportionate to work done and adjusting any amount so paid against the total amount payable at the end of the wage period.