The Statutory Minimum Wage In Hong Kong

Living in Hong Kong comes with many rules and regulations regarding the minimum hourly wage rate. The majority of the workers around the globe are not satisfied with the minimum wages they are given.

But, when you live in Hong Kong, you don’t have to worry about being treated by low-income workers. The Hong Kong government has now announced a particular limit on low-paid jobs and wages.

So, if you wonder about getting an employment contract with any company in Hong Kong, you will be satisfied with the wage payment period.

In the following guide, we will discuss everything related to the statutory minimum wage in Hong Kong. So, let’s get started and discuss some facts about Hong Kong’s economic growth.

Statutory Minimum Wage – A Short Overview

A statutory minimum wage can be defined as the lowest limit of wages missed by the law or any other legal authorities. It excludes the agreement that has been made between the two parties.

The primary purpose of setting a statutory minimum wage is to pay employees the money they deserve. Thus, domestic workers or student interns in Hong Kong don’t have to worry about getting low pay for heavy tasks.

What is the Minimum Wage Commission?

When you think of forestalling meager wages in Hong Kong, the first thing that comes to mind is the existence of the Minimum wage ordinance in the state. It came into action back in 2011.

The primary purpose behind this ordinance was to set up a minimum wage commission to cope with the increasing unemployment rate. It has become successful!

So, according to the Minimum Wage Ordinance, the lowest pay employees will get almost HK$37.5 as their minimum wage commission. This condition applies to nearly everyone in the country, including the domestic helpers.

This current minimum wage is applicable in all regions of Hong Kong regardless of the location or profession people adopt.

The Hong Kong government announced this wage according to the hourly rate commensurate. Thus, it applies to all types of job contracts without any restriction.

Why is there a Minimum Wage in Hong Kong?

As discussed earlier, the primary purpose of setting up specific standards for the minimum wage in Hong Kong is to save everyone from scarcity. The government is trying hard to protect all workers against all types of unfairly low wages of employees.

With the announcement of low minimum wages in Hong Kong, everyone will get a favorable amount of money to save them from exploitation for any work they do.

Hong Kong is one of those states of the world that offers consistent working opportunities to the people around the country. So, the Hong Kong government introduced low-paid jobs with minimum wages to make them affordable to those who can’t even earn a penny.

Who Does Statutory Minimum Wage Apply To?

Another critical question that arises after the announcement of low wages by the employment ordinance is the persons eligible for the minimum wage commission.

The laws under the ordinance of the Hong Kong government apply this policy to all types of conclusion employers working at an hourly rate. Almost all low-income families are included in the persons who are eligible for getting the demanded amount of minimum wage.

The labor department in Hong Kong is no exception to this policy. The primary reason behind applying this policy to the labor department is that the labor market conditions become unfavorable for the people to meet the ends of the month.

Besides the regular employees, the statutory minimum wage smw rate applies to those under any employment contract.

The amount of the minim wage depends on the hours worked by the employee. Another primary purpose of including everyone in the minimum wage commission is to reduce the high unemployment rate.

Employees with Disabilities

In addition to the regular or contract employees, another sector eligible for the minimum wage ordinance is the employees with any disability. The Hong Kong government also implements this rule for those working regardless of any disability they own.

Another plus point for people with disabilities is that they have the right to conduct a productivity assessment. The primary reason behind this action is to know whether they can be reimbursed at not lower than the SME rate or not.

Calculate the Minimum Wage in Hong Kong

There is no hard and fast rule in calculating the minimum wage in Hong Kong when you are an employee in any country sector. You can know the exact amount by calculating the total number of hours an employee worked with the total hourly rate.

This will help you determine the exact value of the minimum wage in Hong Kong. Besides the manual calculation, another method uses the labor department’s minimum wage calculator.

You will need to enter the fundamental values and get an exact idea of how much minimum wage you deserve per month. Employer representatives also implement this method for calculating the wages in Hong Kong. However, the hourly rate is also affected by the number of meal breaks you will take during your working hours.

That is why it is suggested to get fewer meal breaks to double the number of hours worked in a company.

Conclusion:

If we conclude the above discussion, in a nutshell, it is evident that the Hong Kong government sets up a wage floor for the betterment of the labor sector in the country. The minimum wage helps save people on employment contracts from facing a hard time managing the month.