The Hong Kong government announced that foreign domestic helpers working in the SAR will get a 2.5% increase in their monthly minimum salaries. This will take the base wages that Hongkongers can pay helpers up to HK$4,990 from the previous HK$4,870 — an increase of HK$120 per month. The new minimum wage rates apply to all contracts signed from September 27, 2024.
Authorities also reminded Hongkongers that they must provide helpers in their employ with free food, under the regulations laid out in the Standard Employment Contract for hiring foreign domestic helpers. They also have the option of giving helpers a food allowance of no less than $1,236 each month — an amount that has remained unchanged since last year.
Earlier this year, migrant domestic workers leaders of the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions (FADWU) and several migrant groups and NGOs met with the Labour Department to demand a monthly minimum wage of HK$6,300 and food allowance of HK$2,700. They also requested that the standard of food that employers provide helpers should be specified in their contracts, and that the policy by which helpers must find new employment within 2 weeks of being terminated or their contracts expiring should be relaxed.
In 2023, the HKSAR government announced a 3% increase in minimum wages for foreign domestic workers in the city, as well as a HK$40 rise in the minimum food allowance to the current $1,236 per month. This was far below demands for an up to 27% increase in pay from groups representing the interests of Hong Kong’s foreign domestic workers.
Header image credits: Dan via Flickr
