HR & Payroll Outsourcing

Hong Kong payroll is governed by the Employment Ordinance, which sets wage periods, holiday and sickness entitlements, and payment in lieu of notice, most of them calculated on a 12-month average of wages rather than current salary. That single rule causes the majority of the payroll errors we correct when taking over a file.

A full outsourced payroll covers gross-to-net calculation, confidential payslips, the bank payment file, MPF remittance, statutory employment records, and leave, final payment and severance calculations.

Employers must enrol qualifying employees in an MPF scheme within 60 days, contribute 5% each from employer and employee subject to the statutory minimum and maximum relevant income levels, issue monthly pay records and retain trustee remittance statements.

Annually we file the employer's return with the IR56B forms, and the IR56E, IR56F and IR56G filings for joiners, leavers and employees departing Hong Kong, including the obligation to withhold final payments until tax clearance.

Most disputes we are asked to unpick start in the contract. A Hong Kong employment contract should be explicit on wage period, probation, working hours, rest days, annual leave accrual, sickness allowance, notice on each side, and whether year-end payment or bonus is contractual or discretionary: the last one decides whether it is payable pro rata on termination.

On exit we calculate the final payment properly: wages to the last day, accrued untaken annual leave, payment in lieu of notice on the 12-month average wage, any contractual year-end payment, and long service or severance payment where the qualifying service applies. Where the employee is leaving Hong Kong, the IR56G is filed and the final payment withheld for one month or until the Inland Revenue Department issues a letter of release.

You send changes (joiners, leavers, salary revisions, unpaid leave, commissions) by an agreed cut-off each month. We calculate gross to net, produce a payroll register for approval, and hold everything until you sign off.

On approval we issue confidential payslips, deliver the bank payment file in your bank's format, remit MPF to the trustee, post the payroll journal to the ledger and file the statutory records. Data stays inside a controlled environment: only named approvers see the full register, and line managers only see their own team.