You are here: Home / Updates / Hong Kong: Foreign domestic workers' wages go up, but no one's happy
Hong Kong: Foreign domestic workers' wages go up, but no one's happy

Hong Kong: Foreign domestic workers' wages go up, but no one's happy

Comments
by IDWFED published Oct 01, 2014 07:49 PM
Domestic workers' wages go up by HK$100 from Oct 1 - that's per month and only for those signing new contracts. Workers complained the new wage, HK$4,110, was still too low and it was unfair that those signed to contracts would have to wait until they expired before benefiting.

Details

HONG KONG -

Excerpt:

Domestic workers' wages go up by HK$100 from today - that's per month and only for those signing new contracts.

Workers complained the new wage, HK$4,110, was still too low and it was unfair that those signed to contracts would have to wait until they expired before benefiting.

One employers' group also expressed unhappiness over the rise, saying the wage should have been frozen at HK$4,010.

Workers have been calling for wages to be raised to HK$4,500, or to be paid the statutory minimum wage of HK$30 an hour.

"I am very disappointed by the decision. Inflation has been so serious; what can you buy with HK$100? How do you expect us to survive?" Eni Lestari, spokeswoman of the Asia Migrants' Coordinating Body, said. "The pay has been going up so slowly. In 1998, it was HK$3,860 a month."

The Labour Department said the decision took into account Hong Kong's near-term economic outlook and struck a balance between employers' ability to pay and the workers' livelihood.

For employers who pay a food allowance instead of providing food, the monthly amount will go up HK$44 to HK$920.

Domestic workers' pay went up HK$90 last year, and HK$180 in 2012.

Read the original article in full: Maids' wages go up by HK$100, but no one's happy | SCMP

Source: Phila Siu/South China Morning Post

Story Type: News

blog comments powered by Disqus