2. Information
  3. Re-employment Allowance Pilot Scheme
  4. Re-employment Allowance Calculation Principles

Re-employment Allowance Calculation Principles

  1. General Principles

    Jobs that are eligible for claiming Re-employment Allowance (REA) shall fall within one of the following modes of employments:

    1. Full-time Job – employed under a continuous contract# and works for at least 30 hours per week;

    2. Part-time Job – employed under a continuous contract# and works for less than 30 hours per week; and

    3. Qualified "Casual Work" – not employed under a continuous contract:

      • regarded as a part-time job if the aggregate working hours are 76 hours or more for every 30 consecutive days;

      • regarded as a full-time job if the aggregate working hours are 128 hours or more for every 30 consecutive days; and

      • when counting the aggregate working hours in every 30-day period, the number of employers involved will be limited to 5.

    # An employee who has been employed continuously by the same employer for four weeks or more, with at least 18 hours worked in each week, is regarded as being employed under a continuous contract.

  2. REA Amount

    Upon the completion of the specified working months (Qualified Employment Periods), participants may claim REA in the following amounts:

    Qualified Employment Period
    REA Amount
    Full-time Job
    Part-time Job
    First Phase of REA:
    After working continuously for 6 months*
    $10,000
    $5,000
    Second Phase of REA:
    After working continuously for 12 months*
    $10,000
    $5,000

    *For the purpose of calculating Qualified Employment Periods, a "month" is defined as every 30 calendar days.

    Modes of employments can be changed within the Qualified Employment Periods, e.g. from a part-time job to a full-time job. If no less than two-thirds of the working days in a Qualified Employment Period are under a full-time employment, REA for the entire period will be calculated on a full-time basis. Otherwise, REA will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

    Participants must complete the entire Qualified Employment Period (i.e. having worked continuously for 6 or 12 months) and submit the application on time in order to receive the REA. No REA will be payable to participants who did not complete the relevant Qualified Employment Period.

    Variations of employment terms made after the report of employment must be reported to the service organisations as soon as possible. The authority to make final decisions on the disbursement of REA and its amount rests with LD.

  3. Changing Jobs

    Participants may change jobs without breaking the length of the Qualified Employment Period accumulated and its continuity provided that the break between the last day of the former employment and the commencement day of the new REA-eligible job is no more than 30 days. If the break exceeds 30 days, the continuity of the existing Qualified Employment Period will be regarded as broken, and the participants shall commence a new Qualified Employment Period.

    • Example

      Example 1 – Continuous Employment

      Participant A started working continuously from 1 August 2024 (1st day). He will be eligible for the first phase of REA after working for 180 days (i.e. until 27 January 2025), and the second phase of REA after working for another 180 days (i.e. until 26 July 2025).

      Example 2 – Changing Job without Break of Continuity

      Participant B started working continuously from 1 August 2024 (1st day), and left his employment on 29 September 2024 (60th day). If he commences another employment on or before 30 October 2024 (so that the break does not exceed 30 days), his new employment would still be part of the Qualified Employment Period, i.e. the commencement date would be the 61st day.

      Example 3 – Changing Job Resulting in Break of Continuity (1)

      Participant C started working continuously from 1 August 2024 (1st day), and left his employment on 29 September 2024 (60th day). If he commences a new employment on 31 October 2024, his previous 60 working days would not be counted towards the Qualified Employment Period since the break lasted for 31 days. He has to work 180 days from 31 October 2024 in order to claim the first phase of REA.

      Example 4 – Changing Job Resulting in Break of Continuity (2)

      Participant D started working continuously from 1 August 2024 (1st day), and left his employment on 28 January 2025 (181st day). He is eligible for the first phase of REA. If he commences a new employment on 1 March 2025, his previous 181 working days would not be counted towards the Qualified Employment Period for the second phase of REA since the break lasted for 31 days. He has to work 360 days from 1 March 2025 in order to claim the second phase of REA.

  4. Absence During Employment Periods

    Absences during employment periods are handled according to their nature:

    Category
    Nature of Absence
    Effect on Qualified Employment Period
    Category:

    Category 1

    Nature of Absence:

    Leave and holidays granted as statutory rights and benefits under the Employment Ordinance (EO), including rest day, statutory holidays, annual leave with pay, maternity leave, paternity leave or sick leave with sickness allowance, etc.

    Effect on Qualified Employment Period:

    The entire period of absence is counted towards the Qualified Employment Period fully.

    Category:

    Category 2

    Nature of Absence:

    Sick leave more favourable than EO entitlement (whether paid or not) and leaves granted by the employer under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.

    Effect on Qualified Employment Period:

    Periods of absence not exceeding 30 consecutive days is counted towards the Qualified Employment Period fully.

    For periods of absence exceeding 30 days, the part exceeding 30 days will not be counted towards the Qualified Employment Period. However, it would not break the continuity of the Qualified Employment Period.

    Category:

    Category 3

    Nature of Absence:

    Any periods of leave and absence other than those in categories 1 and 2 and as approved by the employer, for example, casual leave, study leave, marriage leave, etc.

    Effect on Qualified Employment Period:

    Periods of absence not exceeding 30 consecutive days is counted towards the Qualified Employment Period fully.

    For periods of absence exceeding 30 days, the continuity of the Qualified Employment Period would be broken, and the entire period would be disregarded.

  5. Qualified Employment Period of "Casual Workers"

    The Qualified Employment Period of "casual workers" is comprised of work periods each with 30 consecutive days. Participants who are casual workers shall specify the start and end days of their 30-day periods when completing the REA Application Form.

    • Example

      Participant A started working as a casual worker on 1 January 2025. His first 6 work periods of 30 consecutive days each are:

      First Phase

      Period
      From (DD/MM/YYYY)
      To (DD/MM/YYYY)
      REA Phase
      Period:
      1
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      1/1/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      30/1/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      Period:
      2
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      31/1/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      1/3/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      Period:
      3
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      2/3/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      31/3/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      Period:
      4
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      1/4/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      30/4/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      Period:
      5
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      1/5/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      30/5/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      Period:
      6
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      31/5/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      29/6/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      First Phase

    If the break between 2 consecutive work periods that carry at least 76 working hours each does not exceed 30 days, the continuity of the Qualified Employment Period is not affected and both work periods are counted towards the Qualified Employment Period.

    • Example

      Participant B started working as a casual working but his 30-day work periods are not consecutive to each other:

      First Phase

      Period
      From (DD/MM/YYYY)
      To (DD/MM/YYYY)
      REA Phase
      Period:
      1
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      1/1/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      30/1/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      Period:
      2
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      2/2/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      3/3/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      Period:
      3
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      4/3/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      2/4/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      Period:
      4
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      4/4/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      3/5/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      Period:
      5
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      4/5/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      2/6/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      Period:
      6
      From (DD/MM/YYYY):
      3/6/2025
      To (DD/MM/YYYY):
      2/7/2025
      REA Phase: First Phase
      First Phase

    When reporting the number of hours worked in each work period, participants can only report employment of up to 5 employers. Casual works in each period are regarded as a part-time job if the aggregate working hours are 76 hours or more, or a full-time job if the aggregate working hours are 128 hours or more.

    • Example

      Example 1 – Continuous Employment

      Participant C worked at least 76 hours in all work periods. He will be eligible for the first phase of REA after the 6th work period, and the second phase of REA after the 12th work period.

      Example 2 – Non-Consecutive Work Periods without Break

      Participant D worked 80 hours in the first and second work periods. He stopped working temporarily after the second work period. If he starts the third period with less than 30 days' break and works 80 hours in the 4 remaining work periods (i.e. the 3rd through 6th work periods), he will be eligible for the first phase of REA after the 6th period.

      Example 3 – Continuity of Qualified Employment Period Broken (1)

      Participate E worked 80 hours in the first and second work periods. He stopped work temporarily after the second work period. If he starts the third period that leaves a break of more than 30 days, the first and second work periods will be disregarded, and he has to complete 6 work periods afresh to be eligible for the first phase of REA.

      Example 4 – Continuity of Qualified Employment Period Broken (2)

      Participant F worked 80 hours in the first 6 work periods. He is eligible for the first phase of REA. However, if the break between his 6th and 7th work periods exceeds 30 days, his previous 6 work periods will not be counted towards the Qualified Employment Period for the second phase of REA. He has to work another 12 work periods in order to claim the second phase of REA.