Minimum wage law | Gov’t turns down lawmakers’ call to include handicapped workers

The local government has decided that a minimum wage law currently under discussion will not cover handicapped workers, contrary to lawmakers’ request that it do so.
Yesterday, the Second Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL) met with government representatives to discuss two laws concerning the Hengqin port and a minimum wage.
Regarding the minimum wage law, the title of the bill has been changed from the “employee minimum wage law” to the “minimum wage law.” Indeed, most changes the government has agreed to relate to the wording of the articles; no changes were made to their definition or meaning.
Legal advisors at the AL said that the government did not agree with the lawmakers’ opinions nor with legal advisors on the minimum wage law. Yesterday the lawmakers, called on the government to explain why it disagrees with their collective opinion.
For example, lawmakers had proposed to include handicapped workers in the bill, but the government did not agree to do so. Lawmakers are seeking an explanation for the non-inclusion.
The government claimed to have listened to the opinions of the lawmakers but has not yet changed the provisions in the law. The government said that it will establish a point-based working-ability evaluation for handicapped workers, but didn’t say when it will set up the evaluation system.
Speaking on behalf of lawmakers, Chan Chak Mo, Chairman of the Second Committee of AL, said that the legislators had been left surprised that no explanation had been provided. Lawmakers still hope that the government will continue answering lawmakers’ questions, responding to their proposals and attending the meetings.
The minimum wage bill amendment to the city’s labor laws was generally passed at the AL last July amid lawmakers’ concerns for employees with disabilities and for domestic helpers, who are both excluded from the provision.
Once the law takes effect, the minimum wage will be increased to MOP32 per hour, MOP256 per day, MOP1,536 per week, or MOP6,656 per month. It will be reviewed every two years, though there is no minimum interval date set for updating the amounts.
Regarding the Hengqin port bill, the Second Committee signed an opinion report and submitted it to the government. According to Chan, the law is in urgent need of approval.
Chan said that the government only changed two expressions inside the law. It did not make substantial changes to the content or the articles.
In this bill, it was previously suggested that Macau would use the law to regulate the Chinese State Council’s decisions on different stages of the development of the Hengqin port. Rephrasing the sentence prevents Macau from overruling the State Council. Both the government representatives and lawmakers agreed to the changes.
The government hopes that this bill can be passed within this month, while lawmakers are keen to visit the port and requested that such a visit be arranged for them.