The Hong Kong government has approved an increase in minimum wage for foreign domestic workers including Filipinos in contracts which will be signed beginning October 1.
In a statement, the HK government raised the the wage from HK$4,630 to HK$4,730, or more than ₱35,000 per month, which was a 2.2 percent pay hike.
The monthly food allowance will also be increased to no less than HK$1,196 — or more than ₱8,900.
“The Government reviews the MAW for FDHs regularly. In accordance with the established practice, we have carefully considered Hong Kong’s general economic and labour market conditions over the past year, as well as Hong Kong’s near-term economic outlook, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in this year’s review,” the government said.
“Best thing nakuha natin ‘yung increase despite the economic hardship everyone is going through,” Consul General in Hong Kong Raly Tejada said in a report on CNN Philippines.
Some groups were not happy with the increase and still called it slave wage level.
“For the past two years, our wage has frozen. Migrant domestic workers (MDW) suffered severely during the pandemic, yet we continue to not receive any support or financial assistance from the HK government,” they said.
They are demanding for $6,014 monthly wage increase and a food allowance of $3,023.
