Hong Kong lawmakers pass Minimum Wage Bill after 41-hour debate

HONG KONG, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's 60-member Legislative Council (LegCo) passed the Minimum Wage Bill on Saturday morning after 41-hour debate in the second and third reading of the law.

Secretary for Labor and Welfare of the HKSAR government, Matthew Cheung, said the passage of the bill marked a very important milestone in the protection of labor, particularly grass-root workers in Hong Kong.

"I would say it actually opens a new page in our socio-economic history," he told reporters.

In the next few months, Cheung said a lot of work has to be done, for example, the determining of the initial rate and also to do all the preparatory work leading to the implementation of minimum wage in the first half of next year.

"We will devise guidelines for particular sectors, and also start an education and publicity campaign, as well as work out the details for the disabled in particular, because they are the vulnerable group and need to be handled carefully," he said.

Cheung said the city's Provisional Minimum Wage Commission would review the minimum wage at least once every two years.

He also said the government would monitor development closely when minimum wage is implemented in Hong Kong.

With the passage of the bill, Hong Kong's Provisional Minimum Wage Commission is expected to give the first advice before the end of August on the minimum wage level to HK's Chief Executive Donald Tsang.

After the consent of the city's Executive Council, the Minimum Wage Bill is expected to be implemented early next year.

The HKSAR government had said the objective of legislating for a minimum wage was to help the city devise an optimal statutory minimum wage regime which could forestall excessively low wages without unduly affecting labor market flexibility, economic growth and competitiveness.