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Minimum Wage Commission delighted by Government's acceptance of recommendations on enhancing review mechanism of Statutory Minimum Wage

The Minimum Wage Commission (MWC) has unanimously put forth its recommendations on enhancing the review mechanism of the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) after extensive consultations, detailed analyses and thorough deliberations. The recommendations are reviewing the SMW rate once a year (Annual Review), adopting a formula for implementing the Annual Review and reviewing the aforesaid new review mechanism five to 10 years after its implementation.

The Chairperson of the MWC, Ms Priscilla Wong, said today (April 30), "We are delighted to learn that after considering the MWC's study report, the Chief Executive (CE) in Council has accepted our recommendations on enhancing the review mechanism of the SMW."

Ms Wong added, "The recommendations on the new review mechanism represent the unanimous consensus of the MWC. The adoption of a formula for adjusting the SMW rate can reduce the contention of the community over the rate of each SMW adjustment, thereby helping foster harmonious labour relations. The MWC believes that the new review mechanism can enhance the efficiency of reviewing the SMW rate, while complying with the policy objectives of the Minimum Wage Ordinance (Cap. 608)."

With the CE in Council's acceptance of the MWC's recommendations, the MWC has successfully concluded the aforesaid study. The MWC notes that the CE will require the MWC to submit the next recommendation report on the SMW rate to the CE in Council on or before October 31 this year in accordance with the requirements of the Minimum Wage Ordinance. The MWC will commence the relevant work in due course.

The "Study Report on Enhancing the Review Mechanism of the Statutory Minimum Wage" has been uploaded to the MWC's website (www.mwc.org.hk).