Here’s a fantastic news for anyone working or are planning to get a job as a Household Service Worker (HSW) in Hong Kong.
Effective October 1, the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HK SAR) will implement a new law that requires employers to increase the allowable wage and food allowance for HSWs.
With this new regulation, minimum allowable wage (MAW) will be HK$4,210 while the food allowance will be HK$995. This is a nice increase compared to the previous amounts which were HK$4,110 and HK$964 respectively. In the past, employers were required by the law to provide HSWs either with free food or give them money for food allowance.
The government, however, clarifies that this increase is only exclusive for HSWs whose working contracts are signed October 1 and onwards.
A spokesperson from the government has said that they make it a point to review the wages of HSWs to ensure that they are properly compensated for their services.
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According to the spokesman:
“In accordance with the established practice, we have carefully considered Hong Kong’s general economic and labor market situations over the last year, as reflected through a basket of economic indicators, including the relevant income movement and price change in this year’s review.”
In addition to that, it has been said that the Hong Kong government did the move in order to protect the workers from low salaries. Also, this is done in order to boost Hong Kong as a competent choice when compared to other foreign countries.
The 2014 reports tell us that about 330,650 household service workers are working in the country – which is a 3.1% growth compared with 2013. Most of these HSWs are either from the Philippines or from Indonesia.
Needless to say, Hong Kong is hoping that they will be able to attract more workers in the future.