The wage level has been the most controversial element of the bill, as the figure will be translated into the actual hourly pay for workers on the minimum wage once the bill is implemented.

A provisional commission, which includes representatives from labour unions, the business sector, academic circles and the government, was set up in February to develop the first minimum wage rate.

Under the proposed bill, the chief executive and the Executive Council will make a decision on the wage level recommended by the commission.

Speaking at a Legco bills committee meeting, unionist legislator Lee Cheuk-yan said the arrangement might give the chief executive and Executive Council too much power.

'The chief executive can amend the wage rate or even refuse to accept it,' he said. 'The CE and the Exco members can also simply ignore recommendations made by the commission. But we lawmakers cannot amend the suggested wage rate. I think this should be studied carefully.

'Why should the CE and Exco have more power than the Legislative Council?'

Cheung said the wage rate would be developed by the commission, which had members from different concerned parties.

'The commission has to study data, consult stakeholders and consider a basket of factors when setting the minimum wage level,' he said. 'The commission has done all the work before advising the chief executive and the Executive Council.

'The commission is established to advise the CE, and then approval from Legco will be obtained. Lawmakers can either accept or revoke. This is a similar arrangement to the minimum-wage model in the UK.'

Cheung said that if the suggested wage rate was revoked by Legco, the commission would have to study the issue again. 'The minimum-wage bill imposes penalties on offenders, and that is why approval from Legco is necessary.'

Another unionist lawmaker, Li Fung-ying, urged the government to set out clearly a system for reviewing the hourly minimum wage. 'The economic situation can change any time. We need to fix a review frequency and put it in the law,' she said.

Cheung said that apart from advising the government about setting the wage rate, the commission had to make recommendations about the timing and frequency of rate reviews.

Less equal than others

The Gini coefficient is a measure, on a scale between zero and one, of inequality of income distribution. The closer a nation's score is to zero, the greater the equality of its economy

The most equal economy is Sweden, which scores 0.23, while Hong Kong is just ahead of Honduras at: 0.533