Minimum wage for FDHs goes up to $4,990 per month

 

Filipino migrant workers in sit-down protest on Chater Road for higher wages 

The Hong Kong government announced this afternoon that the minimum allowable wage for foreign domestic helpers will rise to $4,990 per month from the current $4,870, an increase of 2.5  percent.

However, the food allowance paid to FDHs who are not provided with free food by their employers will remain at not less than $1,236 per month.

The new salary will apply to all employment contracts signed from tomorrow, Sept. 28. 

FDH contracts signed today or before at the existing wage of $4,870 per month will still be processed by the Immigration Department, provided the  applications reach the the Department on or before Oct. 25 (Friday).

The announcement was greeted with dismay by the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, which had pushed for a minimum wage of $6,172 for FDHs.

AMCB said the  $120 wage increase with no additional food allowance is small relief “for the suffering” migrant workers who are paid a “slave wage.”

“Once again, migrant domestic worker were discriminated against and excluded in (the provision) of better working conditions,” said AMCB.

Had the minimum salary of $6,172 been granted to them, migrant workers and their families would have lived more comfortably, said the group.

Government, on the other hand, said that the determination of the MAW followed a established mechanism that takes into account Hong Kong’s general economic outlook and labour market conditions in the past year, as well as its near-term economic outlook.

“The Government has also reviewed the level of food allowance and, having taken into account the relevant consumer price indices, decided that the level should remain unchanged,” said its statement.