Minimum Wage Policy in Hong Kong
-
Upload
ckwchung -
Category
News & Politics
-
view
6.017 -
download
1
description
Transcript of Minimum Wage Policy in Hong Kong
Minimum Wage Policy in Hong Kong
Macy Lee (09428526) Calvin Chung (09409572)
POLS 7050 Public Administration Presentation
History of minimum wage Policies / Laws in other countries
•“sweatshops” in manufacturing industries•1890s :Adopted in New Zealand and
Australia•1909 :Adopted in UK•1938 :a federal minimum wage law
passed by U.S. Congress
Sweatshops
History of minimum wage Policies / Laws in Hong Kong
•1932: Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO) but hasn’t been used.
•1990’s: Minimum wage discussion started to become a popular topic in society
•2005-2006: Wage Protection Movement (WPM)
•2007: The Wage Protection Movement failed
•Feb 2009: Provisional Minimum Wage Commission appointed
History of minimum wage Policies / Laws in Hong Kong (Cont’d)
Why do we need a minimum wage policy?
Minimum wage as a basic human rights
•Universal Declaration of Human Rights : Article 25
•International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights : Article 7
Size of the working poverty group is a concern in HK
•Over 1 million people, which accounts for about 14% of the entire HK population, is classified as part of the working poverty group
•Potentially induces social instability if the sources of their income cannot be protected
Inequality distribution of income in Hong Kong
•Gini coefficient:
1991: 0.476 2006: 0.533;2009*:0.53
(Rank no. 1 in Asia in 2009 from U.N. Development Program, and compare with other developed countries like USA, who has 0.45 Gini coefficient score in 2007)
Minimum wage policy is a world trend?
•Over 100 countries have different types of minimum wage
•PRC, Guangdong Province: implemented its minimum wage system in 1994
However, is this legislation is the best choice for HK people?
Working poor
Social instability
Marginal workers
Existing proposal (WPM) for minimum wage policy
• 1)national-wide
• 2)domestic workers
• 3)clear guidance to determine the wage level
• 4)penalty and implementation plan
• 5)supportive scheme/ subsidy was mentioned in the policy
Hence….. the legislation of minimum wage is needed
However…..
this policy is needed to be adjusted and parallelly implemented with other supportive policies
Policy Objective
Eradicate the working
poverty
Improve the quality of life
for the grassroots
working class
Maintain social
stability
We propose the following modifications,
implemented in 2 phases
2 phases
Phase 1 : 2009-2014
•Provisional Minimum Wage Commission determine the level of the of minimum wage
•Multi-industry / national minimum wage
Phase 1 : How to measure?•Use following criteria to measure
minimum wage :
Cost of living
Consumer price index
Economic performanc
e
Wages of comparable
workers
Phase 1 : Who can protected by?•The minimum wage system applies to
most workers which also includes:
•Domestic worker
•Employees with disabilities
•Trainees and apprentices
Phase 1: Others •Enforcement•Penal provisions
Phase 1: The Supportive Schemes•Enhance the ERB (Employees Retraining
Board) scheme
•Government subsidy – to employer/employee
•Match up policy with “Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme" (CASS)
Phase 1 Evaluation
•1)By annual review index
•2)Annual review unemployment rate and average wage in HK
•3) Minimum wage policy on inflation risk
•4) Investment on-the-job training
Phase 2: 2014-2019
•1) Expand function of the minimum wage commission
•2) Extend the coverage of the minimum wage policy ( e.g. by age, by nature of the job)
•3) Enhance the criteria for determining the minimum wage( e.g. labor productivity, employment rate)
Phase 2 Evaluation
• 1)A 5-year review
• 2)Review economic effect and the cost effect after launch the minimum wage policy
• 3) Review the penalty and monitoring system
Conclusion 1)A Lower social-cost
policy 2) Able to eradicate the
working poverty as well as to bring a minor negative effect to economy
3) For a long-term aspect, this policy can maintain social stability and enhance resource allocation
Worker Boss
Government
Society
Thank You!!
- END -