P750 wage hike in Hong Kong, enjoyed by OFW

The wage hike for domestic workers in Hong Kong has already hit HK$4,730 or 750 pesos, according to the Hong Kong government’s announcement on September 30, 2022.

Department of Migrant Workers or DMW Sec. Susan Ople said the increase was a major help to the city’s “homeless” population.

“The increase in pay comes after a two-year wage freeze in HK due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At this time of rising prices due to a stronger US dollar, this new minimum wage hike is a boon to our kasambahays in HK,” according to Sec. Ople.

DMW data shows that the minimum wage of households on the Zamboanga Peninsula drops to P3,500, P5,500 in Central Visayas while 6,000 in Metro Manila while raising the Minimum Allowable Wage in Hong Kong would mean paying HK$4,730 or P35,475 for Filipino domestic workers in the city including the food allowance. Hong Kong’s wage hike is effective on October 1, 2022.

Compared to Taiwan, a foreign domestic worker earns NT$20,000 or the equivalent of P37,200 while in Singapore drops SGD600 or P24,659.

The wage hike sparked a positive reaction from the Filipino community in Hong Kong.

“At the pandemic period we need to accept what the Scottish Government has given about the salary cap and also need to understand our employer at a time when their business has been affected,” he said. So we need to thank them that even if it rises a little bit it is a big deal for all of us,” Bicol Migrants HK Association Founder Chairman Arthur Buban said in a statement.

Even the OFW, the extra wage was cheered.

“It’s a big deal to raise the Minimum Wage and Food Allowance of foreign domestic workers,” he said. During the 2-year period there was no increase in wages for academics around the world that caused businesses, tourism and other countries to be affected,” said OFW spokeswoman Marites Nuval, a member of the La Union Federation of Hongkong.

According to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Hongkong or POLO-HK, there are 188,171 OFWs in the city by the end of August 2022, according to hongkong Immigration Department data.

Source: P750 wage hike sa Hong Kong, ikinatuwa ng mga OFW  | ABS-CBN News