While admitting that there is room for improvement on the minimum wage level, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has highlighted that many jobs, even low-paying ones, do pay higher than minimum wage.
According to the current laws, the minimum wage level applies to all jobs, except for household workers and disabled workers. The minimum wage levels are at MOP6,656 per month for monthly paid workers, MOP1,536 per week for weekly paid workers, MOP256 per day for daily paid workers, as well as MOP32 per hour for hourly rates and workers paid per task or per commission.
Ho pointed out that the minimum wage level is only the salary floor and many jobs do pay more than that, “even [among] the lowest-paid jobs,” the head of the government said.
Meanwhile, on the matter of support for the employment of disabled groups, the Social Welfare Bureau is offering much assistance, said Ho. He added that the government has constructed a safety net to protect and support groups that are at more disadvantage, or in less advantaged positions.
Ho’s comments were made in response to lawmaker Pereira Coutinho’s question in parliament, which was about raising the level of the minimum wage, amid increases recorded in the price of many consumables. AL
