Filipino household service workers (HSW) in Hong Kong could still get their ideal HK$5,500 minimum wage.
This after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it is exploring other means to increase their monthly pay over the new HK$4,520 (equivalent to P31,368) pay rate approved by Hong Kong authorities for foreign HSWs.
The new rate, which took effect on Sept. 29, is 2.5 percent higher compared to the HK$4,410 received by migrant HSWs in Hong Kong before the pay hike.
Aside from the wage increase, Hong Kong authorities also granted foreign HSWs a HK$22 food allowance.
Labor Undersecretary Jacinto V. Paras told BusinessMirror this could be bilateral agreement or a simple letter of appeal from the Philippine government.
“Although we appreciate the gesture of the Hong Kong government to cause the increase of HSWs wages, we at DOLE continue to seek from Hong Kong further increase to the satisfaction of our OFWs/HSWs,” Paras said in a SMS.
For his part, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Administrator Bernard P. Olalia said it is unlikely they will be appealing the pay hike.
“Wage hikes [abroad] are a prerogative of the host government so we have to respect it. It is set through their domestic laws so we can’t legally appeal,” Olalia told BusinessMirror in a phone interview.
He also said the minimum wage already exceeds the prescribed US$400 minimum wage of POEA for HSWs.
During the weekend, Migrant International called on the Philippine government to demand for higher minimum wage for Filipino HSWs in Hong Kong.
“The wage increase has long been overdue especially at a time when their families back home are reeling from the peso depreciation and inflation,” Migrante International said in a statement.
It said the latest wage hike from Hong Kong is an insult for its foreign HSWs.