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 $34.5 per hour to $37.5 per hour, an increase of $3 or 8.7 per cent.

     The Minimum Wage Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Notice 2019 will be published in the Government Gazette next Friday (January 18) and tabled in the Legislative Council (LegCo) on January 23. Subject to the approval of LegCo, the revised SMW rate will come into force on May 1, the next Labour Day.

     The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, paid warm tribute to the Chairperson of the MWC, Ms Priscilla Wong, and all its members for their hard efforts and sterling contribution in accomplishing the important and challenging mission of reviewing the SMW rate.

     Dr Law said, "The Government has carefully considered the report of the MWC and is of the view that the MWC has ably discharged its statutory function of reviewing the SMW rate with thorough and balanced deliberation."

     He added, "Since the SMW came into effect on May 1, 2011, the earnings of low-income employees have continued to improve and the employment market has remained largely stable. The smooth implementation of the SMW has been attributable to the support of the community and co-operation of stakeholders."

     The full text of the "2018 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 18, and table in LegCo on January 23, the Employment Ordinance (Amendment of Ninth Schedule) Notice 2019. The Notice amends the monthly monetary cap on recording the total number of hours worked. An employer will be exempted from the requirement to record the total number of hours worked by an employee in a wage period if wages payable to the employee for that wage period are not less than $15,300 (currently $14,100) per month. In tandem 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 takes effect, that is May 1 this year.

Ends/Friday, January 11, 2019
Issued at HKT 14:00

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