The definition of wages would be made clear in drafting minimum wage legislation, probably using an hourly rate, if a law was deemed necessary in a review later this year, a government source said yesterday.
The source was speaking as the Labour Advisory Board met to discuss preparatory work for introducing a statutory minimum wage, as well as criteria for assessing the effectiveness of the voluntary wage protection movement in October.
If the campaign - in which companies that joined promised to pay at least a defined minimum wage to cleaners and security guards - is proved to be a failure, the administration will draw up the legislation in the 2008-09 legislative session.
The source said the definition of wages in the Employment Ordinance should be adopted when drawing up the proposed statutory minimum wage to ensure consistency.
'The ordinance enacted in 1968 sets out the wage components and permissible deductions from wages in addition to the provisions on statutory benefits. A statutory minimum wage would set the lowest level of wage permissible under the law.'
The source also said setting the statutory minimum wage on an hourly basis would be a preferred option, as it would help prevent exploitation. 'It is easier to do the calculation by using an hourly rate, for we can just look at the total of take-home pay workers receive and divide the amount by the number of working hours and measure it against the statutory minimum wage,' he said.