Hong Kong has increased the base pay of foreign domestic workers to HK$5,100 a month, but a migrant workers group criticises that the new minimum wage is “a far cry” from a living wage.
The Labour Department announced on Monday a 2.2 per cent increase in the minimum wage for foreign domestic workers, from HK$4,990. Meanwhile, the food allowance for workers whose meals are not provided by their employers remains unchanged at no less than HK$1,236 per month – roughly HK$40 per day.
The new minimum wage is applicable to all contracts signed on or after Tuesday. Contracts at the previous monthly pay rate that were signed on Monday or before would still be processed if the applications reached the Immigration Department on or before October 27.
The pay rise took into account Hong Kong’s general economic performance, labour market conditions over the past year, short-term economic outlook and the affordability of employers, the Labour Department said. Other considerations among a “basket of factors” included the basic living needs of foreign domestic workers and the views of different stakeholders, it added.
In a statement on Monday, the Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body (AMCB) – a coalition of migrant worker associations and unions – said that it had “mixed emotions” at the pay rise because “the announced increase is a far cry from the coalition’s call for a living wage currently pegged at HK$6,172.”
“Living wage” refers to a salary that allows an employee and their family to lead a “decent life,” according to anti-poverty NGO Oxfam.
The AMCB also criticised the Labour Department for freezing the food allowance, calling the current amount “seriously unhealthy” and “insufficient,” especially in the face of rising food prices in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s economic crisis and inflation issues should be addressed by the Hong Kong government, and not “left to be burdened” by foreign domestic workers, the group said.
NGO Help for Domestic Workers said the wage increase was ” a positive step toward fairer pay and better livelihoods,” but that challenges remain.
“For domestic workers, supporting themselves and their families back home is becoming increasingly difficult as the cost of living rises,” Avril Rodrigues, the Head of Communications at HELP for Domestic Workers, said.
“Many families in Hong Kong are still grappling with the economic slowdown and rising inflation, which puts extra pressure on household budgets,” she added.
Just last month, the Quadripartite Alliance for Harmonious Employment Practices (QAHEP), a group claiming to represent employers, called for a salary freeze for migrant domestic workers amid Hong Kong’s sluggish economy.
The QAHEP said freezing the salary of foreign domestic workers would align with the government’s pay freeze for civil servants, which was announced in February. Financial Secretary Paul Chan estimated at the time that Hong Kong would face a deficit of HK$87.2 billion in 2024-25, marking the third consecutive financial year in the red.
The AMCB hit back at the pay freeze calls days later, saying migrant domestic workers should not be “scapegoats” for the “Hong Kong Government’s negligence in addressing the worsening situation in Hong Kong.”
The government raised the minimum wage of migrant domestic workers in September 2024, from HK$4,870 to HK$4,990. The food allowance remained the same.
The Census and Statistics Department said last week that consumer price inflation “stayed modest” in August. Overall consumer prices rose by 1.1 per cent in August compared with the same month last year.
