Daquiri>
(1) Employees in HK are entitled to have the miminum 7 days holiday (excluding Sunday & public holidays), which is under the Employee Ordinance. So, if the company grants you less than 7 days, you can sue them. (7) days sounds really mean but don't be surprised if your company really offers you this (Jardine, such a big employer, starting annual leave is (7) days!! Although normally, most employers give more, say (12) days. And, the number of annual leave you enjoy sometimes depends on your title & years of employment in the company. i.e. Manager gets more days than the junior clerk; you may be granted one more day after, for example, 3-year employment in the company - it depends on the company's employment policy - no law binding.
(2) Bank Holiday means "you are off when the Bank is off". Basically, it means public holiday (those days marked in red on calender) plus the Saturday afternoon. However, some companies are on 5-day work (monday to friday) - largely depends on what industries you are in.
(3) As for the 13-month pay, it is kind of "Chinese" thing (people use that extra month's salary for paying tax or preparing 'red pocket' money for the Lunar New Year) That's why some people get into trouble with tax if they don't have the 13th month salary when they don't have any savings in the bank. In the old days, most companies in HK guaranteed the 13th-month salary, however, since the economic regress in 1997, some companies changed this policy and make it into "BONUS", which means, they don't have to give it to you if they don't want to. So, you have to read/ask carefully if the 13th-month salary is a 'guarantee' or a 'bonus'. Of course some companies do offer 14-month salary!
(4) Pension: MPF is compulsory, normally, you contribute 5% of your salary and your employer contribute the same amount. I guess someone working in the Human Resources can give you a much better details on MPF, as I am not expert - I only know I have 5% less from my salary every month!
As for the annual leave, I have experience that some companies do not allow their employee to take annual leave for the first year of employement - their reason is: the company's policy states that employees are only entitled to annual leave of the last year. However, as there are (7) days annual leave bound by law, the company will give you so-called "emergency leave" for the first year up to 7 days. Honestly, I do really see the logic & point there but it's just for your reference.
Not too sure about the maternity leave though, by law, 2- days I guess. But my present company (UK-based) offers 12 days; whilst my first employer (a Japanese company) offered 3 days!!!!
Do HK people normally work for long hours??? Personally speaking, in my working life, my answer is "NO". Perhaps it is because of my industry (general insurance)... but I attribute it my work ethic - I have to spare some time for myself - don't want to be a work slave. However, as I know some people (especially in I.T. industry or accouting field, they do work over 10 hours a day). So, it depends on (a) your industry (b) who is your boss - if your boss is workaholic and he hates people leaving on time, you have to beware!
(if anyone spot something wrong above, please correct!)