'Govt Needs A Mechanism To Set Minimum Wage'

A welfare advocacy group has said the government must introduce a mechanism to set a minimum wage in Hong Kong, based on a percentage of the city's median wage.

Speaking to RTHK as a public consultation was due to end on Monday, Sze Lai-shan, the deputy director of the Society for Community Organisation, or SoCO, said the SAR's minimum wage lags at 38 percent of the median wage, and should be considerably higher.

"There's no mechanism," she said. "I don't know how the government sets the minimum wage. We also checked with other places such as Taiwan, Korea or even in Shenzhen.

"All of those places set the minimum wage at around 50 percent, or even up to seventy per cent, of the median wage. In Hong Kong now the rate is 38 percent. The standard is too low."

The government has proposed raising the minimum wage by HK$2.50 to $40 starting from next month. SoCO's suggestion would push it up to over HK$53 per hour.