Starting from 1 January 2025, the Labour Department (LD) has raised the upper age limit for participants of the Youth Employment and Training Programme (YETP) to 29 to allow more young people to join the programme to enhance employability.The YETP of the LD provides a comprehensive platform of job search for young people aged 15 to 29 with educational attainment at sub-degree level or below.  Services offered by the YETP include training courses, workplace attachment training, on-the-job training with salary and career development services provided by professional social workers.  For details, please visit the YETP's website at www.yes.labour.gov.hk or call the enquiry hotline at 2112 9932.

From now on you can save time in adding public holidays to your electronic calendar!  1823 Online has prepared the Hong Kong Public Holidays calendar in iCal format for your use!iCal, short form of iCalendar, is a common file format used for sharing calendar data. iCal is compatible with most of the current calendar program.We currently provide data of HK public holidays for 2023-25. For new users, public holidays for 2023-25 will be shown in your calendar after subscribing to our iCal. For users who have already subscribed to our iCal, your mobile devices will automatically update the information of public holidays for 2022-24 to information of 2023-25 after synchronisation.>>>Click here to susbcribe Hong Kong Public Holiday iCal 2025 to your electronic calendar!A statutory holiday is not equivalent to public holidayAn employee, irrespective of his length of service, is entitled to the following statutory holidays. Please click here for details.The 14 statutory holidays for 2025 are:1.    The first day of January - 1 January (Wednesday)   2.    Lunar New Year's Day - 29 January (Wednesday)    3.    The second day of Lunar New Year - 30 January (Thursday)       4.    The third day of Lunar New Year - 31 January (Friday)  5.    Ching Ming Festival - 4 April (Friday)     6.    Labour Day - 1 May (Thursday)   7.    The Birthday of the Buddha - 5 May (Monday)    8.    Tuen Ng Festival - 31 May (Saturday)     9.    Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day - 1 July (Tuesday)     10.  National Day - 1 October (Wednesday)     11.  The day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival - 7 October (Tuesday)         12.  Chung Yeung Festival - 29 October (Wednesday)   13.  Chinese Winter Solstice Festival or Christmas Day (at the option of the employer) - 21 December (Sunday) or 25 December (Thursday)   14.  The first weekday after Christmas Day - 26 December (Friday)All employees are entitled to the above statutory holidays. If the statutory holiday falls on a rest day, a holiday should be granted on the day following the rest day which is not a statutory holiday or an alternative holiday or a substituted holiday or a rest day. Please visit the website of Labour Department for more details.All employees covered by the Employment Ordinance are entitled to statutory holidays. An employer must not make any form of payment to the employee in lieu of granting a holiday (except upon termination of employment contract). In other words, "buy-out" of a holiday is not allowed. An employer who fails to follow such restriction is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of $50,000. If the employer requires the employee to work on a statutory holiday, an alternative holiday or a substitute holiday must be arranged in accordance with the Employment Ordinance. For more details, please click here.

This video covers the scope of work, entry requirements, on-the-job training and promotion prospects of the Labour Officer grade in the form of a short drama. It also features officers’ sharing on work culture and job application tips.If you are eager to take up challenges, willing to explore various types of work, and wish to have a meaningful career as a professional labour administrator; seize the opportunity and take action now!For details of the Labour Officer grade, please visit www.labour.gov.hk. Please also refer to the latest announcement of the Civil Service Bureau for application details.