After months of discussion the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) was finally set at HK$28 an hour. It will be implemented next month, but details on how to apply the law to students are still up in the air.
The government recently issued its Reference Guidelines for Employers and Employees to try to clarify matters. But that doesn't mean everything will go smoothly.
According to the guidelines, student interns are exempted from mandatory minimum wages as long as they are enrolled in a full-time local education institute and are under the age of 26 at the beginning of their employment.
But only students from universities and approved post-secondary colleges registered under the Post Secondary College Ordinance are exempted. In other words, employers need to pay secondary school students the minimum wage if they hire them as summer interns.
This raises the question: why would employers want to pay minimum wages to student interns who join the company just to acquire skills and experience?
Every summer many secondary school students apply for internships at various companies to learn things that are not taught in classrooms and textbooks. It is widely understood that they are not there to make cash. Many are more than happy to work for no money at all. The new law may now prevent them from being hired as interns at all.
