Minimum wage over MOP 6,000: poll

A recent survey conducted by the Macau Daily Times suggested that most of our online voters agree that if a minimum wage is to be introduced in Macau, the level should be set at more than MOP 6,000 a month.
That translates into MOP 31.25 per hour, based on a 48 hour working week.
Following the July decision in Hong Kong to pass the minimum wage law after a marathon 40-hour debate at the Legislative Council (LegCo), this controversial topic has once again begun to stir in Macau.
Yet the legislation in Hong Kong doesn’t stipulate the actual wage level. The Provisional Minimum Wage Commission has announced this week that an agreement on the city’s first minimum wage has been reached, but did not disclose the rate agreed upon.
Hong Kong’s labour unions stand firm with their demand for HKD 33 per hour, but local media quoted unnamed sources as saying the figure is set at HKD 28 or HKD 29, far below that in major US and European cities.
The LegCo can either approve or reject the hourly minimum wage but cannot amend it.
Director of the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) and coordinator of the Standing Committee for the Coordination of Social Affairs, Shuen Ka Hung, disclosed on August 24 that discussions on the minimum wage will be included on their working agenda, but stressed at the same time that it will be “very difficult” to reach a consensus between the business and labour sectors.
According to the MDT opinion poll findings, a majority of 61.13 percent, or 205, of the voters are in favour of minimum wage above MOP 6,000 per month. However, 24.33 percent or 82 of the total voters selected the salary range between MOP 5,000 and MOP 6,000.
The least amount of our voters, 14.54 percent or 49, agreed that the minimum wage should be set at below MOP 5,000.
Shuen Ka Hung told reporters in July that it is not difficult to have a minimum wage law passed, but the “problem is stipulating the actual wage level”.
He said: “If the level is too low, the legislation will become pointless; if it is too high, some small and medium enterprises can’t afford it and are forced to close down and some low-skilled workers may also lose their jobs.”
The current poll at www.macaudailytimes.com asks our readers whether or not they agree with the six-month entry ban on imported workers if they want to change jobs in Macau.