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Domestic helpers' pay could rise amid an improving economy and general inflation, the secretary for labour and welfare said yesterday.
But any decision would be made only after the government consulted unions for helpers and employers, Matthew Cheung Kin-chung  said.
'The possibility to increase wages exists. But the exact level of increase can only be determined after detailed analysis and study,' he said. 
A domestic helpers' union said monthly pay should at least rise to HK$4,000 a month. 'In the past we could buy lunch with HK$20. Now it is impossible to get anything cheaper than HK$30,' the vice-chairwoman of the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Hong Kong, Iweng,  said. 'Transport fees are also more expensive now. It is only fair that we get at least HK$4,000 a month.' 
She said the present salary of HK$3,580 was even lower than helpers' pay in 1998 - HK$3,860.
The government conducts a regular review of domestic helpers' salaries. Their pay was frozen last year.
Domestic helpers are excluded from the recently introduced minimum wage law, which stipulates that employees must receive an hourly wage of at least HK$28.
But Voice of the Middle Class chairman Alvin Lee Chi-wing  said domestic helpers' wages should not be linked with inflation. 
'Middle-class citizens are already hit hard by general inflation,' he said. 'We cannot afford our own mortgages and transport fees. Domestic helpers should set their wage levels individually with their employers, and the government should not introduce a blanket salary increase.'



Minister hints at pay rise for maids