Gov’t considers 12 hours’ annual family care leave for civil servants to boost fertility

Hong Kong civil servants could receive up to 12 hours of family care leave annually from next year, the city’s civil service minister has announced, as part of a raft of new measures to promote fertility and family-friendly workplaces.

This would cover uses such as taking time off to take an elderly parent to a medical appointment, staying home with a sick child, or helping a family member recover from surgery or serious illness.

Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung told a Legislative Council panel meeting on Wednesday that the proposed family care leave allowance is intended to allow civil servants to handle brief absences from their posts, such as dealing with a sudden school suspension or a gas leak at home.

As for accompanying family members to medical appointments, which can take most of the day, Yeung suggested that civil servants could use their annual leave or childcare leave.

Yeung said she expects the application process for family care leave to be simple, adding that she believes most civil servants will not abuse the arrangement.

Following the announcement, some internet users commented that 10 to 12 hours were insufficient to care for relatives. Others criticised the government for only introducing benefits for civil servants and not private-sector employees.

The city’s leader John Lee laid out plans to establish family care leave for all government employees in his 2026 Policy Address last week – part of a series of measures to promote fertility, including the extension of one-off baby bonuses and increased child tax allowances.

Lee previously introduced childcare leave for civil servants in his 2024 Policy Address. Starting from early 2025, Hong Kong civil servants who have children under three years old have been eligible for up to three days’ childcare leave per year.

Countries and regions across East Asia are rolling out policies to tackle the problem of slumping birth rates.

In August, Singapore announced a proposed bill that offers eight days of annual childcare leave for parents with a child aged six or below. Parents with two children stand to get 10 days’ leave, while parents with three children will enjoy 12 days of annual childcare leave.

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Irene Chan is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press and has an interest in covering political and social change. She previously worked at Initium Media as chief editor for Hong Kong news and was a community organiser at the Society for Community Organisation serving the underprivileged. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Fudan University and a master’s degree in social work from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Irene is the recipient of two Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards and three honourable mentions for her investigative, feature and video reporting. She also received a Human Rights Press Award for multimedia reporting and an honourable mention for feature writing.