Minimum wage review for Hong Kong foreign domestic workers coming ‘shortly’

The Hong Kong government has said it will announce “shortly” the outcomes of a regular review of the minimum wage and food allowance for the more than 380,000 foreign domestic workers in the city.

The Labour and Welfare Bureau said on Monday that any adjustment to domestic workers’ minimum wage will balance their interests and employers’ affordability, but did not specify when it will announce the results of its review.

Such announcements are usually made in September every year. Last year, the minimum wage for domestic workers was increased by 2.2 per cent, from HK$4,990 to HK$5,100 per month.

‘Prudent, objective and balanced’

In a social media post on Monday, the bureau said it had already gathered views from domestic workers and employers through different channels.

“We will fully consider the views of both sides and make a prudent, objective and balanced decision based on objective economic data and all relevant factors, so as to ensure that any adjustment is commensurate with the actual circumstances,” the Chinese-language post stated.

Last week, the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB), a group representing domestic workers, held a rally outside the Labour Department calling for an increase in the minimum wage to HK$6,172 – a 21 per cent hike.

The group also called for the monthly food allowance to be more than doubled from HK$1,236 to HK$3,123. The current level of HK$1,236 equates to around HK$41 per day, while the AMCB’s suggested level comes to roughly HK$100 per day.

Most employers in the city provide free meals for their domestic workers, according to the government. Those who do not have to pay the mandatory food allowance.

In reviewing the minimum wage for domestic workers, the government said it has taken into account Hong Kong’s economic performance, employment situation, changes in price level, employment earnings of grassroots workers, and household incomes of those employing domestic workers.

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Hans Tse is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in local politics, academia, and media transformation. He was previously a social science researcher, with writing published in the Social Movement Studies and Social Transformation of Chinese Societies journals. He holds an M.Phil in communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Before joining HKFP, he also worked as a freelance reporter for Initium between 2019 and 2021, where he covered the height - and aftermath - of the 2019 protests, as well as the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.