First Weekday after Christmas

The First Weekday after Christmas Day in Hong Kong is the legal name of the holiday commonly called Boxing Day in English. Its institutional roots lie in the British-influenced public calendar, but residents now use it for church gatherings, family meals, shopping, recreation or rest. It is not a second celebration of Jesus's birth with a prescribed liturgy, and its identity should not be confused with a generic Saturday off.

The date became a statutory holiday in 2024 as Hong Kong progressively narrowed the gap between statutory and general holidays. In 2026 the first weekday after Christmas was Saturday, December 26, and both official lists used that date. Saturday counts as a weekday for this legal title. No universal Monday holiday arose merely because five-day offices were already closed; an employee's rest-day collision follows the next-eligible-day rule instead.

All employees covered by Hong Kong's Employment Ordinance receive statutory holidays regardless of service length; holiday pay requires a continuous contract of at least three months. General holidays and statutory holidays are overlapping but legally distinct lists. Government offices and many banks commonly close on general holidays, while transport, health care, hospitality, retail and other essential or commercial services may remain open. Required statutory-holiday work triggers the alternative or substituted holiday arrangements set out by the Labour Department.