Commission to use govt survey data to establish base hourly pay

The median hourly wage of local employees was HK$58.5 in the second quarter of 2009, the government announced Thursday. However, the government survey also showed that about 5 percent of the working population earned less than HK$24 per hour and 10 percent earned less than HK$27 per hour.

With this data, the Provisional Minimum Wage Commission will determine a minimum wage level and propose it to the Legislative Council in July. The commission hopes to establish, thereafter, the first statutory minimum wage in Hong Kong.

The Census and Statistics Department released Thursday its report for the second quarter of 2009. For the period, the survey calculated the median hourly wage for the 2,776,600 people who comprise the working population in Hong Kong (this number does not include live-in domestic helpers, government employees, employers and the self-employed).

The overall hourly median wage for the 2,776,600 people was calculated at HK$58.5. However, the median hourly wage for those in the property management, security and cleaning sectors was only HK$27.6. Workers from the catering sector earned a median hourly wage of HK$32.7.

In terms of the number of employees, 138,200 people earned less than HK$24 per hour, 277,400 people earned less than HK$27, and 416,200 people earned less than HK$31.2.

Commenting on the statistics, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung said the survey covered more than 10,000 companies, employing nearly 70,000 staff. The collected data will serve as an important reference for the Provisional Minimum Wage Commission when it formulates the initial minimum wage level.

Cheung also said the Commission would, in the course of its work, ensure that the minimum wage level is not too low, so that workers can have some basic economic stability.

Union lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan said the data shows that many local workers are paid poorly and work long hours.

"A minimum wage of HK$33 per hour would definitely help many people improve their living standards, so the government should ignore pleas from the business sector to lower the minimum wage level," he said.

But lawmaker Tommy Cheung, who represents the catering sector, said the minimum hourly wage should not be higher than HK$20. Fellow lawmaker Andrew Leung, from the business sector, said if the minimum wage is set at HK$33 per hour, it would affect the operations of small and medium enterprises. He worries that this would cause older workers with few skills to lose their jobs.

According to Francis Lui, an economist from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the minimum wage could encourage more employers to replace workers with machines to do part of their manual work.

(HK Edition 03/19/2010 page1)