What the law actually requires — reporting deadlines at a glance
Under section 15 of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), once an employer becomes aware that an employee has met with an accident at work, there is a statutory duty to report it to the Commissioner for Labour within the prescribed time, using the prescribed form — regardless of whether the accident ultimately gives rise to a liability to pay compensation. For full coverage details and premiums, see our complete Employees' Compensation Insurance guide.
| Case type | Reporting deadline | Form used |
|---|---|---|
| General work injury (incapacity exceeding 3 days) | Within 14 days | Form 2 |
| Minor injury (incapacity of 3 days or less) | Within 14 days | Form 2B |
| Fatal cases | Within 7 days | Form 2 |
Source: Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) section 15; Labour Department "A Concise Guide to the Employees' Compensation Ordinance" (April 2026 edition).
What happens if you don't report, or report late?
An employer who, without reasonable excuse, delays or fails to give notice, or who furnishes false or misleading information to the Commissioner for Labour, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a maximum fine of HK$50,000. This penalty is entirely separate from whether the injured employee gets their statutory compensation — failing to report doesn't reduce what they're entitled to, it just adds a criminal liability on the employer's side.
"It was a minor injury, so we didn't bother reporting" — that assumption is risky
The Ordinance doesn't exempt minor cases from the reporting duty. Even injuries resulting in incapacity of 3 days or less must still be reported within 14 days using Form 2B — it's not a matter of "only report if it's serious." Employers often discover this only after the deadline has already passed.
Reporting to the Labour Department vs. notifying your insurer — two separate things
Many employers assume that once they've reported to the Labour Department, they're done. In fact, reporting to the Labour Department is only one statutory obligation — notifying your insurer is a separate step under your policy terms. Most EC policies require the employer to notify the insurer as soon as reasonably practicable after becoming aware of an accident; the exact notification window and process depend on your specific policy wording. Delayed notification can complicate the claims process and slow down how the insurer handles it — so these two steps need to happen in parallel, not one instead of the other.
The 3 most common mistakes employers make
- Assuming part-timers and casual staff don't need to be reported — the reporting duty under the Ordinance covers every category of employee, the same as the insurance obligation itself. It doesn't shrink just because someone isn't full-time. See our guide on EC insurance for part-time, casual and self-employed staff.
- No record made at the scene — the time, location, sequence of events, and any witnesses all get harder to reconstruct accurately the longer you wait, which slows down both the reporting and the claims process.
- Treating "minor injury" as "no need to report" — as covered above, incapacity of 3 days or less still requires a Form 2B filing within 14 days. There's no severity threshold below which reporting isn't required.
What happens after you report — the claims process in broad strokes
Once you've reported to the Labour Department and notified your insurer, the process generally involves medical certification, an assessment of compensation (including for any permanent incapacity), and follow-up with the insurer on the claim itself. The actual length and outcome depend on the specifics of the injury, the medical evidence, and your policy terms — we don't make promises or guarantees about individual claim outcomes here. If you'd like someone to walk through the whole process with you, a licensed advisor can follow up directly.