Happy Labour Day, Hong Kong! The government’s gift for all your hard work? An extra HKD2.5 an hour. Whooo. Treat yourself.
As of today, Hong Kong’s hourly minimum wage has risen from a paltry HKD30 an hour to an almost-excessive HKD32.5 an hour.
Maybe we will get that Big Mac this Christmas after all.
Hong Kong’s statutory minimum wage first came into force at HKD28 in 2011 after years of heated debate between employers and labour unions.
It is reviewed every two years by the Minimum Wage Commission, which saw fit to put it up to HKD30 in 2013.
The new hike is expected to cost Hong Kong employers an extra HKD1.36 billion a year, as it is thought 150,000 people in the city, until today, earnt less than HKD32.5 an hour.
Don’t worry though, as those poor employers are unlikely to feel the pinch. As a consequence of the increase in security guard and cleaner salaries, management fees at buildings are expected to shoot up around 10 percent.
Today, various labour unions will march from Victoria Park to the government offices in Admiralty to demand better pay and conditions.
Maybe they’ll call it all off now though.
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