The Labour Department announced today (October 30) that the "required minimum wage" for foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in Hong Kong will increase from the current $4,630 per month to $4,730 per month, an increase of 2.2%. The contract will be signed from tomorrow (October 1). All foreign domestic helper contracts are effective.
According to the "Standard Employment Contract" for employing FDHs, employers must provide FDHs with free meals, but employers can also choose to replace them with meal allowances, which will be increased by $23 to not less than 1,196 yuan.
Chen Dongfeng, chairman of the Hong Kong Employment Association, said that he was surprised by the adjustment rate and believed that the increase rate was too low.
Zhang Jiemin, chairman of the Hong Kong Employment Agents Association, pointed out that the current market price of foreign domestic helper wages has dropped, but the number of flights is small, resulting in the shortage of foreign domestic helpers.
The signed contract must be sent to the Immigration Department at the latest by 10.28 according to the current salary
A government spokesman said that the government will regularly review the "mandatory minimum wage" for foreign domestic helpers. This year's review has carefully considered Hong Kong's overall economic and labour market conditions over the past year, as well as Hong Kong's short-term economic prospects, including the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the established mechanism. The impact of the virus outbreak; after taking into account the above factors, the affordability of employers and the livelihood of foreign domestic helpers, the government has decided to adjust the level of the "mandatory minimum wage".
FDH contracts signed today or before at the current "mandatory minimum wage" of $4,630 per month and a monthly meal allowance of not less than $1,173 can still be delivered to the Immigration Department on or before 28 October (Friday). deal with.
This arrangement allows employers sufficient time to send the signed contracts to the Immigration Department to complete the relevant application procedures.
The monthly salary of local experienced foreign domestic helpers is about 5,000 to 5,500 yuan, far exceeding the minimum wage
Chen Dongfeng said that he was a little surprised by the adjustment of the minimum wage level, "although it is estimated that the government will not adjust it too much, it will not be so small." He said that the industry estimates that it will be adjusted to between 4,800 and 4,850 yuan.
Chen Dongfeng also said that the salary of experienced foreign domestic helpers in the market has already exceeded this number, usually around 5,000 to 5,500 yuan; while for newly hired foreign domestic helpers from overseas, most of them are based on the basic salary.
Fewer flights, foreign domestic helpers are still in short supply
Zhang Jiemin, chairman of the Hong Kong Employment Agency Association, believes that this adjustment has little impact on the market.
He also said that the salary of an experienced foreign domestic helper has already exceeded $4,730.
Earlier, Hong Kong faced a shortage of foreign domestic helpers due to the problem of quarantine facilities. Some employers offered 10,000 yuan monthly salary to rob people. Now the problem of manpower shortage has gradually eased.
Zhang Jiemin said, "At the time of 3+4, the labor force of foreign domestic helpers has already started to recover (the previous level), which is unprecedentedly high." He continued that after the quarantine policy was relaxed to 0+3, the relationship between supply and demand improved, "𠲖 The family has recovered. It's so sharp, most of the foreign domestic helpers have 10% more (normal market price), and some have 20% more."
Zhang Jiemin also said, "If there are enough flights, (the supply of foreign domestic helpers) will return slowly and normally." He pointed out that there are currently insufficient overseas flights to Hong Kong, "about one-third of what it used to be", and the price of air tickets is unaffordable. Foreign domestic helpers waiting to be employed.
The foreign domestic helper spent the last years with the elderly. Before her death, her mother-in-law insisted on seeing her sister for the last time before she passed away. The DAB advocated the establishment of a foreign domestic helper supervision bureau to deal with foreign domestic helper affairs in a unified manner. Experts in the tide of returning home advise employers to pay attention to 5 things about the foreign domestic helper’s holiday. After dismissing the foreign domestic helper twice, she finally met 100 points. The foreign domestic helper’s employer is grateful to her for taking care of her children and family Increase the salary of foreign domestic helper to 5,000 yuan
