HK's labour market unaffected by minimum wage

HONG KONG -- The implementation of statutory minimum wage has not affected the incentive to hire, said Hong Kong's Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung on Sunday.

Speaking to the media at a function, Cheung said that the number of vacancies received by the Labour Department remained at the same level before the minimum wage took effect last Sunday.

"We are now receiving, on average, about 3,000 vacancies from the private sector per day. In fact, last Friday alone we received altogether 4,170 vacancies, which is pretty high by any standard," Cheung said.

In the past week, labour inspectors conducted 863 inspections and during the inspections, 14 employees suspected that their wage level was below the statutory minimum wage requirement.

Cheung said the labour inspectors immediately explained the law 's requirement to the employers to ensure the employees' rights are protected.