Hong Kong’s lowest paid workers will get HK$2.10 (27 US cents) more in their hourly salary, from the current HK$40 to HK$42.10, under a recommendation adopted by the government’s key decision-making Executive Council.
The government announced on Tuesday that Exco had accepted the recommendation of the Minimum Wage Commission to raise the statutory minimum wage by 5.25 per cent, the first rise after a new formula for the rate adjustment was passed last year.
The revised minimum wage proposal will be presented to the Legislative Council on Wednesday next week. Subject to Legco’s approval, the revised rate will come into effect on May 1.
“The [commission] believes that the new statutory minimum wage rate can maintain an appropriate balance between forestalling excessively low wages and minimising the loss of low-paid jobs, while giving due regard to sustaining Hong Kong’s economic growth and competitiveness,” commission chairwoman Priscilla Wong Pui-sze said.
Because of the rise in the minimum wage, the monthly monetary cap on the requirement for employers to record employees’ working hours will also be raised, from HK$16,300 per month to HK$17,200.
