The Statutory minimum wage comes into force on 1 May 2011 and the initial statutory minimum Wage rate is $28 per hour. The Minimum Wage Ordinance establishes an SMW regime aimed at striking an appropriate balance between forestalling excessively low wages and minimizing the loss of low-paid jobs while sustaining Hong Kong’s economic growth and competitiveness. Neither the Minimum Wage Ordinance nor the Employment Ordinance prescribes that meal break and rest days should be paid. Whether meal break and rest days are with pay or otherwise are matters to be agreed between employers and employees.
SMW applies to all employees, whether they are full-time, part-time or casual employees, and regardless of whether or not they are employed under a continuous contract 1 as defined in the Employment Ordinance, with the following exceptions :
◎ persons to whom the Employment Ordinance does not apply 2
◎ live-in domestic workers
◎ student interns as well as work experience students during a period of exempt student employment
Up till now, we can see there is an obvious effect of after implementing statutory minimum wage for a year, i.e. decrease in unemployment rate and increase in overall salary. Undoubtedly, after implementing statutory minimum wage, the overall salary level would increase. The median hourly wage was rise from $59.6 on April-June 2010 to $65.9 on May-June 2011. The median monthly wage was also rise 8.5% to $12,800.
The Essay on Min Wage Minimum Increase Increases
Should Minimum wage be increased? Introduction For many decades now, there has been heated debates concerning minimum wages and increases in those wages. Most people have a tendency to assume that when the minimum wage is increased people will benefit. They do not stop to think of the consequences that come from minimum wage increases. The general population merely assumes that people should make ...
Then, I would use the view of different position to analyze the effect of minimum wage in depth.
To government officials, what they concern is a smooth implementation and operation which balance both employer and employee. They seek for the statistical improvement like the rise in salary and drop in unemployment rate. They help the grass-roots family to improve their life significantly.
However, to most of the employer, they claim minimum wage as policy. Increasing operating cost together with the pressure from inflation causing a“ripple effect”. They may choose to transfer part of the costs to customers which would affect their business. Also, the willingness of hiring for summer jobs and no experience applicants would be reduced. In order to reduce expenditures, the employers may lay off staff, reduce their working hours or contract out the process. This may destroy the relationship among employers and employees and they may be even labeled as” unscrupulous employers”.
How about the employee? Are they satisfied after the rise in income? Oppositely, they feel more stressful with increasing workload and higher expectation from employers.
The life has not improved
Only meet their basic living needs
Cannot overtake the inflation
Cannot solve the disparities in wealth
Lack of confidence in the statutory wage
Lack of competitiveness
Poor may be difficult to find jobs
Apprenticeship ⋄ unemployed?!
Other views…
A side effect
distorting social values
Unclear guidelines
Cannot provide quality jobs to grass-roots
Problems of minimum wage
Unclear guidelines for meal breaks and rest days
Minimum wage law has not specific if salary should include meal breaks and rest days
Business/ employers tend to maximize profit
Employees are on the unprivileged side to fight for their salaries
Result:
Employees may not receive a significant increase in salaries
The Essay on Would you expect an increase in a minimum wage to help or hurt
Increasing the minimum statutory wage has much far-reaching implications . Research indicate that this has a major impact on the business, employment and labor market. Studies done on its impact show that the increase very probably leads to reduction of employment more so for the young and unskilled who typically get engaged in lower income jobs. So if the increase in minimum wage is not ...
Cannot fulfill the aim of Minimum Wage
Lack of regular review of the law
No regular review mechanism for Minimum Wage
Ignore the effect of current factors/ situation
Cannot catch up with society’s need
Example:
Inflation can off set the increase in salary
Minimum Wage has no effect
Minimum Wage level need to be review
Exploitation of employees
假自僱
是僱主要求僱員簽署自僱人士合約，指稱僱員為合作夥伴或合夥人甚至是承判商，但其實勞資雙方有明顯僱傭關係
Minimum wage increase the business cost of employers
To avoid the increase in salary cost
Cases of 假自僱 may increase
However, difficult to prosecute
E.g.: 2009-2010 : 317 complains, 24 cases prosecuted, 17 successed
Reduce of working hours?
Reduce of labour welfare?
Difficulties facing by employers
Increase difficulties in hiring
Since wages have generally increased, candidates have more choices
Some industries may need to increase wages to attract candidates
Increase in business running cost
Increase in salary cost
「漣漪效應」
Additional financial burden under high rent and inflation
Especially serious in catering industry and security industry
Suggestion
Without clear guideline
Clear regulation on calculating lunch hour and vacation
Govn’t encourage employee negotiate with employer
But the bargaining power always so weak
Employer always want to maximize their profit
Employer can exploit his employee by different ways
Govn’t should provide helps to employee when bargaining
Don’t have regular review on the Minimum wage
For government, inflation should be stable and increase every year
The minimum $ to maintain a life increase
Therefore the Minimum wage should also renew every year
In order to keep the effect of SMW in change social contents
Resistance from employers
SMW may increase cost of some industries
Since employee have more choices
The Term Paper on Living Wage Initiative Minimum Workers Set
The living wage initiative is a movement to pull the many families living at the poverty line, due to the underdeveloped minimum wage, into an income bracket that will allow them to provide basic needs for themselves. In order to completely understand the fuel behind the living wage initiative movement, the insufficiency of the current minimum wage, the people that would be benefiting from the ...
Those industries with bad reputation may be difficult to hire people
Gov’t can promote these industries to change the reputation
Also can refresh these industries
Also socialize employers to know that they have responsibility to offer a reasonable wage to employees
Encourage harmony between employer and employee
Working poor is a structure problem
To tackle this problem other Welfare/ Policy to cooperate with SMW
Work Incentive
Most low wage jobs like cleaning are from gov’t
Gov’t outsource these job to the private market
Gov’t do not want to take responsibly of protecting labor
It is a bad model for other employers
Since they think employees are in the weak side
They have no power to oppose
Since the low bargaining power
Employer can exploit his/her worker in many ways
E.g. changing employee into self-employed
Not only focus on the minimum wage
Make the labor market more efficient
We need collective bargaining, right to have a industrial action !?
