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The following is issued on behalf of the Provisional Minimum Wage Commission:
The Provisional Minimum Wage Commission (PMWC) was appointed by the Chief Executive in February 2009 to recommend the appropriate mechanism for determining the statutory minimum wage rate (SMW) and 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.
The PMWC has adopted a prudent approach and an iterative process in deliberating the recommended initial SMW rate. After carefully balancing all relevant considerations, the PMWC reached the consensus of recommending to the Government an initial SMW rate at $28 per hour.
"We are delighted to learn that the Chief Executive in Council has accepted our recommendation on the initial SMW rate," PMWC chairperson Ms Teresa Cheng said.
"We trust that our unanimous recommendations would benefit the community as a whole. We sincerely appeal to all people of Hong Kong to move forward with the recommendations and to strive to support their introduction through each person's own sphere of influence," Ms Cheng said.
The PMWC noted that the impact of the recommended SMW rate of $28, which represented 47.9% of median wage in the second quarter of 2009, would vary across sectors, enterprises and employees. The PMWC estimated that around 314,600 or 11.3% of employees in Hong Kong would be involved; the wages of involved employees would rise by 16.9%; and the total wage bill would increase by 0.6% to $541.6 billion.
The PMWC in discharging its duties in conformity with its Terms of Reference as well as the spirit and policy intent of SMW, has achieved a proper balance through thorough and objective consideration of the following factors: (i) economic and labour market conditions; (ii) SMW to median wage ratio; (iii) number and proportion of employees involved; (iv) impact on businesses; (v) impact on unemployment rate; (vi) inflationary pressure; (vii) competitiveness and economic growth; (viii) other social considerations, especially with regard to enhancing quality of life and social harmony, enhancing work incentive, and the ratio of employees benefiting and not benefiting from SMW policy, etc.
Ends/Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:22
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