Can annual leave be taken few months in advance before the anniversary of helper's employment or would any leave granted before the leave year be considered additional leave?
Annual leave is paid but what about any additional leave? The domestic helper standard employment contract stipulates if the home leave after two years of service is paid or unpaid. Is additional leave considered to be equivalent to home leave or does this situation constitute annual leave shutdown?
Following quotes are from the labour department website regarding Annual Leave Shutdown
http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/...seGuide/04.pdf
"Where an employee is not yet entitled to paid annual leave in respect of any day during the period of shutdown but he has to stop work as a result, he should be granted paid annual leave during that whole period."
"The common leave year elected by the employer should not be affected by an annual leave shutdown as the annual leave granted shall be in respect of the leave year immediately preceding the period of the shutdown."
If I understood this correctly annual leave cannot be granted in advance at least if there is annual leave shutdown.