Vary the routine again, but must add this:
As a parting shot some swearing is fine
FUCK YOU JIAKLIAOBEE PAP IB DEVIL WITHIN
A Government that does the below is a good one
Another that simply refuses to fulfill its mandate
Instead comes up with nothing but scarce tactics
Sends JiakLiaoBee Lightning brigades to spam
Is a GAHBRAMENT that needs to repent
Will Sinkies do the necessary or GOSTAN as usual
From 2012 Report of the Minimum Wage Commission (HK) – Executive Summary
To conform with the statutory function of the Minimum Wage Commission (“MWC”) and to strike an appropriate balance among the demands of various parties, the MWC adopted an evidence-based approach in reviewing and making recommendation on the Statutory Minimum Wage (“SMW”) rate. As there would inevitably be a time lag between the date of making recommendation and the date of its implementation, the MWC took into account short-term economic and labour market outlook to conduct scenario testing with an attempt to have more thorough considerations when reviewing the SMW rate. After having objective, rational and in-depth discussions with regard to the considerations mentioned in Chapter 5, we unanimously reached a consensus on the recommendation of adjusting the SMW rate upwards to $30.0 per hour.
The analysis related to the possible impact of the recommended rate on employees, businesses, unemployment rate and inflation showed that the number of employees earning an hourly wage below $30.0 in May to June 2011 was 327 200, accounting for 11.7% of all employees (i.e. the coverage of SMW). Due to time lag of data, the actual number of employees involved and coverage of SMW may be less than estimated. Although most of the employees involved may benefit from the increase in wages, some may have their working hours reduced, remuneration packages restructured or even be laid off. As for the impact on businesses, taking into account rest day and meal break pay (for employees who are granted these payments according to their employment contract or agreement) that are beyond and above the statutory requirements, as well as the additional labour costs arising from knock-on effect, the total additional wage bill would rise to around $2.0 billion, up by approximately 0.3%. As enterprises would likely adopt different strategies to absorb or mitigate the rise in cost, it is believed that the cost impact, albeit possibly more visible in individual sectors, would be largely manageable for most businesses. As regards the impact assessment on the unemployment rate, it was estimated that the overall unemployment rate would go up by about 0.3 percentage point under the “base case” (i.e. assuming real economic growth for the first half of 2013 at 1.0% year-on-year), affecting some 9 800 to 11 300 grassroots employees. While the unemployment rate in Hong Kong is still relatively low, the impact of the recommended SMW rate on unemployment rate is unlikely to lead to a marked deterioration in the labour market. Furthermore, should there be a full pass-through of additional wage bills on prices of products and services, it was estimated that the Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) would go up by about 0.3 to 0.4 percentage point. Low-paid employees would more likely feel the pinch as daily necessities may be subject to more discernible impact of SMW uprating when compared with the impact on other consumer items. As a measure of inflation on the grassroots, the CPI(A) was estimated to rise by 0.5 to 0.6 percentage point. However, as a full pass-through to consumer prices would be unlikely, the actual impact on inflation should be lower than the above estimate.
The MWC believes that the recommended rate has struck an appropriate balance among the needs of various parties. The recommended rate would also help improve the living standard of grassroots employees while giving due consideration to employment of the vulnerable groups, enhance the incentive to work and promote social harmony yet preserving the market’s capacity to adjust without bringing significant negative impact on the quality of products and services.
To be continued …
