21,800 workers to benefit from 2-pataca rise
The government has finished drafting a bill that proposes to raise Macau’s statutory minimum wage to 34 patacas per hour from the current 32 patacas an hour, an increase of 6.25 percent.
The implementation of Macau’s overall minimum wage system started on November 1, 2020. Since then, all employees in the private sector, except domestic helpers and those with disabilities, have been covered by a statutory minimum wage of 32 patacas an hour – or 256 patacas a day, or 1,536 patacas a week, or 6,656 patacas a month.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, who is also the spokesman for the government’s Executive Council, made the announcement during a press conference at Government Headquarters on Friday, when he said that the council, the government’s top advisory body, had completed its discussion of the bill’s final draft proposing amendments to the city’s overall minimum wage law.
Minimum monthly wage to exceed 7,000-pataca benchmark
The amendment bill announced on Friday, which will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) in due course for debate, review and vote, proposes to raise the statutory minimum wage to 34 patacas an hour – or 272 patacas a day, or 1,632 patacas a week, or 7,072 patacas a month, effective from January 1 next year.
The overall minimum wage law requires the government to carry out its first review of the amount of the statutory minimum wage two years after its implementation, after which the government will have to review the amount every two years.
The government completed its first review of the minimum wage amount earlier this year, which assessed the minimum wage’s implementation between November 1, 2020 and October 31, 2022.
During Friday’s press conference, Cheong said, the government’s first review of the minimum wage assessed the impact of the minimum wage’s implementation on employers and employees alike and on the performance of the city’s ongoing economic recovery.
According to Cheong, the government is now proposing to raise the city’s statutory minimum wage to 34 patacas per hour after considering the review’s findings, consulting representatives from the labour and business sectors, and striking the right balance between the improved protection of workers’ rights and benefits and the possible impact of a minimum wage hike on the city’s business environment and on consumers’ ability to adapt to the induced price hike.
After completing its first review of the minimum wage amount, the government presented its proposal of raising the amount to representatives from the labour and business sectors during a meeting of the Standing Council on Social Concerted Action in July, when it was proposing to raise the amount to between 34 and 36 patacas per hour. The council is a government-appointed consultative body tasked with advising the government on its labour policies.
Govt’s rationale for 2-pataca rise
During Friday’s press conference, reporters asked about the government’s final decision to propose to raise the minimum wage to just 34 patacas an hour. Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) Director Wong Chi Hong replied that in its aim of ensuring the protection of workers’ rights and benefits, the government would also need to consider its possible impact on the city’s economic development, employers’ operational costs, and consumers’ ability to adapt to possible price hikes induced by the minimum wage increase.
Wong noted that a minimum wage hike could be expected to primarily benefit cleaners and doormen employed by the property management sector, in which case, the labour chief said, property management companies would possibly need to raise their management fees.
Consequently, Wong said, the government has concluded that a two-pataca increase in the minimum wage would be a suitable amount that could strike the right balance between the labour and business sectors.
Wong also said that the proposed minimum wage increase was estimated to benefit 21,800 workers.
Domestic helpers
Meanwhile, when asked about a possible increase in domestic helpers’ salaries, Wong noted that while domestic helpers are not covered by the city’s minimum wage system, the local government nowadays rejects prospective employers’ applications for the hiring of non-locals as domestic helpers offered a monthly salary of less than 3,000 patacas.
Wong pointed out that different to other occupations in the job market, whose employment is for the purpose of running a business and generating a profit, domestic helpers are employed to look after family members and do housework, adding that domestic helpers are normally offered non-pecuniary benefits such as meals and live-in accommodation.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon (centre), Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) Director Wong Chi Hong (left), and DSAL Deputy Director Chan Chon U listen to a reporter’s question during Friday’s Executive Council press conference at Government Headquarters. – Photo courtesy of TDM
