Indonesia urges Hong Kong to increase minimum wage of PMI

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: The Indonesian Manpower Ministry is pushing the Hong Kong authority to increase the minimum wage for Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI).

“I urge the Hong Kong authority to consider increasing the PMIs’ minimum wage in 2023, considering the development of current basic needs,” Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah noted in a statement received here, Monday.

During a bilateral meeting with Secretary for Labor and Welfare Department of Hong Kong, Chris Sun Yu Han, Minister Fauziyah also requested basic rights for the other PMIs from the Hong Kong authority, such as easy, fair, and fast visa processing and uninterrupted rest both day and night.

According to the minister, sufficient rest will have a positive impact on the health and working ability of PMIs.

“I want the Hong Kong authority to be able to stipulate regulations regarding working hours and rest periods for foreign domestic workers,” she remarked.

However, in the recruitment and placement of PMIs, the minister said that the employer had to pay a placement fee.

The Hong Kong authority has determined the cost components to be borne by the employer and written in the Standard Employment Contract. Meanwhile, Indonesia also determines the placement fee components that can be charged to employers.

“What has been stated in the Standard Employment Contract, not only the cost component according to Hong Kong regulations but also the cost component according to the worker’s origin country,” she remarked.

At the meeting, Minister Fauziyah also expressed her keenness for the Hong Kong authority to open up opportunities for PMIs to work in the formal sector that requires high level of skills, such as nurses, elderly nurses, and jobs in the hotel sector.

“I believe that through cooperation between Indonesia and Hong Kong, especially in the field of manpower, it can get stronger and be sustainable,” she stated.

Fauziyah noted that the Indonesian government also continues to carry out intensive protection and diplomacy efforts to improve the protection of PMIs’ rights, including those working in Hong Kong.