MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Wednesday, October 5, called the equivalent of a P750-increase in Hong Kong’s minimum wage a “boon” for the thousands of Filipino domestic workers in the special administrative region.

On September 30, the Hong Kong government announced an increase of HK$100 to its monthly minimum wage for foreign domestic workers. Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong will now earn HK$4,730 or around P35,475. It was previously set at HK$4,630 in September 2019.

Hong Kong also increased its minimum food allowance for live-out workers by HK$23 to HK$1,196 or P8,970. Domestic workers who have a live-in setup, or those who live with their employers, are entitled to free food under the Standard Employment Contract for hiring foreign domestic workers.

“The increase in pay comes after a two-year wage freeze in Hong Kong 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 Hong Kong,” said Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople.

What a Filipino domestic worker can earn in a month in Hong Kong is more than 10 times the minimum wage for local domestic workers in, say, Zamboanga Peninsula (P3,500). According to the DMW, other minimum wage rates also range from P5,500 in Central Visayas to a high of P6,000 in Metro Manila.

The DMW said the wage increase drew positive reactions from Filipino community leaders. “Malaking bagay po na nataasan muli ang minimum wage at food allowance ng foreign domestic worker. Sa panahon ng pandemya, dalawang taon po na walang dagdag ang sahod dahilan po sa pandemya sa buong mundo na naging dahilan na maapektuhan ang mga negosyo, turismo, at iba pang bansa,” the department quoted overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Marites Nuval of the La Union Federation of Hong Kong as saying.

(The increase in minimum wage and food allowance for foreign domestic workers is a big deal. During the pandemic, workers did not receive increases in their salaries because of the worldwide pandemic that affected businesses, tourism, and other countries.)

However, the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, which is composed of Hong Kong-based migrant workers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, said the increase was not enough.

“While the HK$100 increase in the MAW (Minimum Allowable Wage) may give a slight relief, still it is not enough to meet the living wage level for migrant domestic workers. The MAW in its current level at HK$4,730 is still 21% short of the living wage and therefore it is still a slave wage level,” the AMCB said in a statement.

“During the time of MDW (migrant domestic worker) shortage, employers were able to give higher wage to MDWs; it’s only the Hong Kong government that prevented it from happening. AMCB continues to be committed to continue the fight for a living wage,” the group added.

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Hong Kong, citing data from the Hong Kong Immigration Department, reported that there are around 188,171 OFWs in Hong Kong as of August 2022, accounting for more than half of its 333,000 migrant domestic worker labor force.

Ople said Hong Kong has become one of the “most attractive places” to work as a kasambahay. In other Asian countries, foreign domestic workers earn NT$20,000 (P37,200) in Taiwan, and SGD600 (P24,659) in Singapore, numbers from the DMW showed. – Rappler.com