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The Chief Executive in Council has adopted the recommendation of the Minimum Wage Commission (MWC) to raise the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) rate from its prevailing level of $30 per hour to $32.50 per hour, an increase of $2.50 or 8.3 per cent.
The Minimum Wage Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Notice 2015 will be published in the Government Gazette this Friday (January 16) and tabled in the Legislative Council (LegCo) next Wednesday (January 21). Subject to the approval of LegCo, the revised SMW rate will come into force on May 1, 2015, the next Labour Day.
The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, paid warm tribute to the Chairperson of the MWC, Mr Jat Sew-tong, SC, and all its members for their hard work and sterling contribution in accomplishing the important task of reviewing the SMW rate.
Mr Cheung said, "The Government has carefully considered the report of the MWC and is of the view that it has ably discharged its statutory function of reviewing the SMW rate with reasonable and balanced deliberation."
He added, "The implementation of the SMW since May 1, 2011, has been smooth. The employment market has since remained stable and the earnings of low-income employees have continued to improve. I am most grateful for the co-operation of employers at large. I appeal to the community to continue to support the implementation of the SMW."
The full text of the "2014 Report of the Minimum Wage Commission" is available at the MWC's website (www.mwc.org.hk).
The Government will also publish in the Government Gazette on January 16, and table in LegCo on January 21, the Employment Ordinance (Amendment of Ninth Schedule) Notice 2015. The Notice amends the monthly monetary cap on recording the total number of hours worked. An employer will be exempted from the requirement of recording the total number of hours worked by an employee in a wage period if the wages payable to the employee for that wage period are not less than $13,300 (currently $12,300) per month. To synchronise with the commencement of the revised SMW rate, the revised monetary cap will come into force on the same day on which the revised rate comes into effect, that is May 1, 2015.
Ends/Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Issued at HKT 14:03
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