{"id":411642,"date":"2011-05-01T00:09:39","date_gmt":"2011-05-01T00:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/01\/hong-kong-introduces-minimum-wage\/"},"modified":"2011-05-01T00:09:39","modified_gmt":"2011-05-01T00:09:39","slug":"hong-kong-introduces-minimum-wage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/01\/hong-kong-introduces-minimum-wage\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong introduces minimum wage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div readability=\"71.6131045242\"><span><span>30 April 2011<\/span> <span>Last updated at<\/span> <span>20:09 ET<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Hong Kong has introduced a minimum wage that is expected to benefit 270,000 low-paid workers, or around 10% of the working population.<\/p>\n<p>Workers will now earn a minimum of HK$28 ($3.60; \u00a32.18) per hour.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation was passed in response to public pressure to narrow the territory&#8217;s wealth gap.<\/p>\n<p>But the minimum wage has been resisted by the business community, who say it is too costly.<\/p>\n<p>Business leaders say small businesses will be forced to lay off staff.<\/p>\n<div readability=\"19.0914634146\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-13248027#story_continues_1\">Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/25d5ce40814_misslau.jpg.jpg\" width=\"144\" height=\"192\" alt=\"Lau Yuk Na\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"5\">\n<p>The pay rise won&#8217;t make much difference to me\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>End Quote<\/span> <span>Lau Yuk Na<\/span> <span>Street sweeper<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<p>Critics also say the legislation is a departure from Hong Kong&#8217;s free-market roots.<\/p>\n<p>With the exception of Singapore, most Asian countries now have a minimum wage or are considering one.<\/p>\n<p>The move is expected to boost the pay of Hong Kong&#8217;s legions of street sweepers, security guards and restaurant workers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The employers now cannot squeeze the lowest paid sectors of society,&#8221; said Lee Cheuk-yan, head of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions and a legislator.<\/p>\n<p>Unions had campaigned for a minimum wage of HK$33 an hour and many workers say the wage increase will not cover rising living costs.<\/p>\n<p>The government said it was forced to introduce the legislation after a voluntary minimum wage scheme in 2006 met with a tepid response from businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Even before its implementation, the legislation has led to disputes between workers and employers.<\/p>\n<p>Some employers have re-hired workers on new contracts with unpaid meal breaks and rest days to avoid paying a higher wage bill.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation does not cover the territory&#8217;s almost 300,000 domestic helpers, who mainly come from the Philippines and Indonesia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/25d5ce40814_misslau.jpg-144x150.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Follow this link:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/go\/rss\/int\/news\/-\/news\/business-13248027\" title=\"Hong Kong introduces minimum wage\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hong Kong introduces minimum wage<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> 30 April 2011 Last updated at 20:09 ET Hong Kong has introduced a minimum wage that is expected to benefit 270,000 low-paid workers, or around 10% of the working population. Workers will now earn a minimum of HK$28 ($3.60; \u00a32.18) per hour<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":404958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-411642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hong Kong introduces minimum wage - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/01\/hong-kong-introduces-minimum-wage\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Hong Kong introduces minimum wage - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"30 April 2011 Last updated at 20:09 ET Hong Kong has introduced a minimum wage that is expected to benefit 270,000 low-paid workers, or around 10% of the working population. 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