Minimum wage rise to $30 gets nod from Exco

(The Standard P.9  13 Dec 2012)About 220,000 minimum wage earners will have their hourly pay raised by HK$2 to HK$30 next May 1 at the earliest.

The new wage level, which will cost companies HK$2 billion more, is the first increase since the law came into effect in May 2010.

The Executive Council yesterday accepted the Minimum Wage Commission's new recommended statutory minimum wage.

The new wage will be scrutinized (細閱) by the Legislative Council and will take effect(生效) on May 1 if approved.

The impact on most sectors(部分) is expected to be moderate(溫和的).

The government said the overall(總的) unemployment rate is expected to go up by about 0.3 percentage points if the real economic growth for the first half of next year is 1 percent year-on-year(與上年同期數字相比).

But as the local unemployment rate is still relatively low, the impact is unlikely to lead to a marked deterioration(顯著的惡化) in the labor market(就業市場).

It is also expected that the composite consumer price index(綜合消費物價指數) will go up(上升) by about 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said the recommended level will not trigger(引起) large-scale ripple effects(大規模的漣漪效應) in the labor market as seen when the minimum wage was introduced in May 2010.

Reports had said at that time that dishwashers earned almost as much as fresh university graduates.

"This happens when the wage level of some industries is relatively(相對地) low," Cheung said.

"But the impact will be relatively mild(輕微的) this time, so we believe that the effect would not be that significant(象徵)."

Minimum Wage Commission chairman Jat Sew-tong denied(否認) the decision had political considerations(政治動機).

"The wage level is a consensus(一致) of all members of the commission. There are doubts that the level was set by the government, but that is inaccurate(不正確的)," Jat said.

Members had reached consensus in terms of how it would benefit Hong Kong as a whole.

Jat also said the commission had considered all data and could not guarantee that no company would close down as a result.

Catherine Yan Shui-han, chairwoman of the Environmental Services Contractors Alliance, warned: "We may have to have a pay rise for those earning an hourly wage of over HK$30. The ripple effect still exists."

Catering-sector lawmaker Tommy Cheung Yu-yan said the wage level is unreasonable(不合理的) and will be a burden(重擔.)

However, Labour Party lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan said the recommended wage level cannot even catch up (趕上) with inflation(通貨膨脹).

Beatrice Siu