Employees are protected by the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) whether they are monthly-rated, daily-rated, hourly-rated, piece-rated, permanent, casual, full-time or part-time, etc, and regardless of whether or not they are employed under a continuous contract, according to the Minimum Wage Ordinance.

Employees with disabilities are also protected by the SMW. It is only not applicable to live-in domestic workers, student interns and work experience students.

In addition, the monthly monetary cap on the requirement of employers to record the total number of hours worked by employees is raised from HK$15,300 to HK$16,300 with effect from today.

When wages payable in respect of a wage period are less than HK$16,300 per month, the employer is required to keep a record of the total number of hours worked by the employee in that wage period.