Ramifications of Hong Kong’s Statutory Minimum Wage Law on Narrowing the Gender Wage Gap

In investigating the ramifications of the statutory minimum wage law on low-income women workers, this report initiates an exploration on how effective the minimum wage law is in narrowing the gender wage gap imposed upon low-income women in Hong Kong.

Since 1996, the Sex Discrimination Ordinance has rendered unequal pay for equal work illegal. However, there has still been frequent media exposure of unscrupulous employers exploiting low-income and minority workers — and a lot of controversy as to whether a wage floor should be established in Hong Kong. In 2011, the statutory minimum wage is a policy implemented to ensure that workers can exchange with their labor sufficient wages to maintain their livelihood. It aims to protect the rights of low-income workers and maintain for them a reasonable standard of living.

Of these minority workers, women workers in Hong Kong face many obstacles when it comes to alleviating discrimination. Hong Kong belongs to an Asian region where, traditionally, stricter values of gender hierarchy are prevalent. As such, women generally earn less than men, and a persisting gender wage gap exists. The HKSAR Government has done little to eliminate such discrimination against women, and employers allegedly prey on the powerlessness of female employees. Thus, throughout their employment, women are frequently forced into unfavorable situations, including but are not limited to discrimination, underpayment, reduced benefits and unnecessarily harsh terms.

Because the most direct way of quantifying gender discrimination in Hong Kong is by comparing wage differences between men and women and investigating the effectiveness of looking at the gender wage gap through a “payment” lens, a wage approach is chosen for this research. Achieving equal pay for equal work (EPEW) is the first step toward providing women workers their rights and ensuring they receive sufficient wages for a reasonable standard of living. In recent years, the HKSAR Government has attempted to incorporate gender mainstreaming — the integration of gender perspectives and needs in legislation and policies — into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies1. Focusing this research on women workers enhances public understanding of the minimum wage law from women’s perspective. It also ensures that social indicators and women’s conditions are considered when policymakers revise current policies, including statutory minimum wage.

By asking how effective the statutory minimum wage law is in narrowing the gender wage gap, we can brainstorm solutions to incorporate gender mainstreaming into policy formulation, and identify characteristic policies needed to most effectively narrow the gender wage gap.