Minimum wage raised to MOP32/hour for security, cleaning staff

The Executive Council (ExCo) has concluded the analysis of a new bill that aims to promote changes to the established minimum wage for local cleaners and security guards hired by property management service suppliers or those working in residential buildings. The ExCo spokesperson Leong Heng Teng announced yesterday at a press conference that the change was enshrined in a law passed at the Legislative Assembly (AL) in July 2015.

The new bill promotes a raise to the minimum wage of such staff from MOP30 per hour to MOP32, an increase of 6.6 percent resulting from calculations made by the government considering “the inflation rate as well as the economic performance in general.”

The same official also noted that this increase comes as the result of a consensus reached between employers and employees during meetings held at the Standing Committee for the Coordination of Social Affairs (CPCS), run under the supervision of the Labor Affairs Bureau (DSAL).
Under the new law, the minimum wage would increase to MOP32 per hour, MOP256 per day or MOP6,656 per month, according to different cases. It is noted that the daily salary is calculated on the basis of an expected maximum of eight
hours work per day. In cases where the workers need to perform extra work, this time would be valued at MOP32 per hour.

As Leong also noted during the press conference, the change, although “simple” and targeting only the wage amount, needs to be established as a law since “only a law can amend another law.”

He additionally remarked that the bill states clearly the amount of the minimum wage, the reason it needs to be changed and the rationale for following all the legislative procedures.

Questioned regarding the procedure included in the bill for the review of this amount on a yearly basis, the ExCo spokesperson said, “It states  that the government should review [the minimum wage] annually and in case it’s needed, proceed with changes. This does not imply a year-based update,” he remarked in response to the fact that the law entered into force in 2016 but the amount is only being changed in 2019.

Questioned as to when this new wage would enter into force, Leong said that such a date would be difficult to predict as it would ultimately depend on the availability of the AL to discuss the bill and approve it, forecasting that “it might take another half-year until it gets enforced.”

According to the government’s estimates, there are currently around 8,500 workers that would be affected by this change.

Questioned at the same opportunity as to when the ExCo would present the bill that aims to establish a minimum wage for all professions, Leong only said that such a bill is currently in the legislative process but “for sure, this will still happen […] in 2019.”