Minimum wage in Hong Kong
| Minimum Wage Ordinance | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Legislative Council of Hong Kong | |
| Citation | Cap. 608 |
| Enacted by | Legislative Council of Hong Kong |
| Date passed | 17 July 2010 |
| Legislative history | |
| Bill published on | 26 June 2009 |
| Introduced by | Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung |
| First reading | 8 July 2009 |
| Second reading | 15 July 2010 |
| Third reading | 17 July 2010 |
The Minimum Wage Ordinance Cap. 608 is an ordinance enacted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong to introduce a minimum wage in Hong Kong in July 2010. The executive branch proposed a minimum wage of HK$28 (~US$3.61) per hour in November 2010, which the Legislative Council voted to accept after much debate in January 2011. It came into effect on 1 May 2011. Prior to this, there had also been a fixed minimum wage for one specific class of workers, foreign domestic helpers, of HK$3,740/month.
The Hong Kong statutory minimum wage for non-domestic workers is HK$34.5 (~US$4.43) per hour, effective 1 May 2017.
Hong Kong had some legislation relating to the minimum wage as early as 1932; the Governor was granted the right, but was not obliged, to establish a minimum wage. The Trade Boards Ordinance also gave the governor (and after 1997, the Chief Executive) the power to set minimum wages for piece-rate and time-rate work, and established penalties for non-compliance. However, no governor exercised these powers. In 2006, legislators floated a proposal for a voluntary minimum wage. The executive branch formed a Minimum Wage Provisional Commission in February 2009 to research and eventually set a proposed wage floor.
More debate came about on the possibility of a minimum wage in 2010. Legislator Tommy Cheung, who represents the catering functional constituency, suggested that the minimum wage be no greater than HK$20. This earned him the derogatory nickname "Twenty-dollar Cheung". He later amended his proposal to HK$24. Lam Woon-kwong of the Equal Opportunities Commission also indicated he had no objection to a lower minimum wage for disabled people.Chief Executive Donald Tsang was opposed to the whole concept of a minimum wage, according to legislator Lee Cheuk-yan of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions. Other voices of opposition included the free-market think tank Lion Rock Institute, as well as Miriam Lau of the Liberal Party, who gave estimates that between 30,000 and 170,000 jobs would be lost as a result of the proposal, depending on the wage adopted.
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