Nowadays, many companies would like to hire part-time employees for a more flexible workforce. However, employers may neglect the importance of taking out an insurance policy for their part-time employees.

It is compulsory for the employer to take out a valid insurance policy to cover the liabilities, both under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (ECO) and common law, for both the full-time and part-time employees who suffer from any injury at work.

The potential liability of an employer towards a part-time employee in an employees' compensation claim can be much higher than one expects.

S11 of ECO :  "Method of calculating earning", (for the purpose of calculating employees' compensation)

(7) Where the employee had entered into concurrent contracts of service with 2 or more employers under which he worked at one time for one such employer and at another time for another such employer, his monthly earnings shall be computed as if his earnings under all such contracts were earnings in the employment of the employer for whom he was working at the time of the accident;

Provided that the earnings of the employee under the concurrent contract shall be taken into account only so far as the employee is incapacitated from performing the concurrent contract; ......

In other words, if your part-time employee works for more than one company concurrently and he/she suffers injury arising out of and in the course of employment with you, causing him/her to be incapacitated from performing jobs under the concurrent contract, you are liable to pay employees' compensation calculated on the basis of not just the part-time salary that you offered but also on the total earnings of all his/her full-time or part-time jobs so far under concurrent contracts. Please note that S11 (7) does not apply to full-time employees. 

Learn more about our insurance plans:
Employees’ Compensation
Group Personal Protector