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The following is issued on behalf of the Provisional Minimum Wage Commission:
The Provisional Minimum Wage Commission (PMWC) held its first meeting today (March 31). The PMWC was briefed on the progress of the work on legislating for a statutory minimum wage (SMW) as well as the introduction of a new wage survey and enhanced economic surveys for the purpose of implementing an SMW. It also discussed the preliminary work plan of the PMWC in 2009, and reached agreement on the housekeeping arrangements, especially confidentiality.
The PMWC Chairperson, Ms Teresa Cheng, said that the PMWC was mainly tasked to advise the Government on the initial SMW rate by adopting an evidence-based approach with a view to ensuring a sensible balance between forestalling excessively low wages and minimising the loss of low-paid jobs, while sustaining Hong Kong's economic growth and competitiveness.
Ms Cheng said, "We shall study the issue in an objective and balanced manner by taking into account all pertinent social, economic and employment factors that could reflect the situation of the concerned workers and the holistic needs of the local economy in order to work out an appropriate initial SMW rate for recommendation to the Government."
In the meeting, members of the PMWC supported in principle the methodologies of the new and enhanced surveys designed to support the deliberations of the PMWC on the initial SMW rate, such as scope and coverage, sample design, reference period for data collection and data coverage. It was expected that the first set of statistical data would be available at end-2009/early 2010.
Before the availability of such statistical data, the PMWC would gear itself up by studying the proposed design of the SMW regime and the experiences of other places in implementing SMW. Furthermore, it would also meet major stakeholders including major employers' groups and labour organisations, as well as employers and employees of different low paying sectors and small and medium-sized enterprises which were likely to be more affected by the implementation of SMW, so as to understand their concerns.
Ends/Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:29
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