MANILA, Philippines – Filipino house helpers will benefit from the recent increase in wages for foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong.
“The increase in pay comes after a two-year wage freeze in HK due to the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) 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 HK,” base sa ipinalabas na pahayag ni Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople.
Ople said the increase in the salary of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong is equivalent to a P750 hike when converted to Philippine pesos.
“Compared to today’s minimum wage for local domestic workers which ranges from a low of P3,500 in the Zamboanga Peninsula or P5,500 in Central Visayas to a high of P6,000 in Metro Manila, a Filipino domestic worker in Hong Kong is there will now be an income of 4,730 Hong Kong dollars or P35,475,” Ople added.
On September 30, the Hong Kong government announced that it will raise its minimum allowable wage (MAW) and food allowance for foreign domestic workers.
The wage increase took effect on October 1.
Data from the Hong Kong Immigration Department shows that there are 188,171 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the city as of August 2022, according to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s government says they make up more than half of the city’s estimated 333,000 migrant domestic workers.
The new Hong Kong MAW of 4,730 Hong Kong dollars is 100 Hong Kong dollars more than the previous wage of 4,630 Hong Kong dollars set in September 2019.
The new minimum food allowance of 1,196 Hong Kong dollars or the equivalent of approximately PHP8,970 set in September last year is 23 Hong Kong dollars more than the previous minimum food allowance of 1,173 Hong Kong dollars.
However, only domestic workers who do not live within their employer’s residence are entitled to food allowance.
In comparison, Ople said that a foreign domestic worker in Taiwan earns 20,000 New Taiwan dollars (P37,200) while in Singapore, it is 600 Singapore dollars (P24,659). RNA
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