{"id":12230,"date":"2020-10-12T03:05:49","date_gmt":"2020-10-11T19:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/domestic-helper\/minimum-wage\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T14:20:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T06:20:39","slug":"minimum-wage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/minimum-wage\/","title":{"rendered":"Minimum Allowable Wage 2019-2020 &amp; HelperChoice Salary Survey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Updated 03 February 2026<\/em><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/minimum-wage\/#Minimum_Allowable_MAW_Wage_and_Food_Allowance_in_Hong-Kong\" >Minimum Allowable (MAW) Wage and Food Allowance in Hong-Kong<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/minimum-wage\/#HelperChoice_Annual_Salary_Survey\" >HelperChoice Annual Salary Survey<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/minimum-wage\/#What_Employers_Should_Take_Away\" >What Employers Should Take Away<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Minimum_Allowable_MAW_Wage_and_Food_Allowance_in_Hong-Kong\"><\/span>Minimum Allowable (MAW) Wage and Food Allowance in Hong-Kong<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The Labour Department announced on September 27th, 2019 the annual increase of the minimum allowable Wage, from HK$4,520 to <strong>HK$4,630 per month<\/strong>. The Food Allowance, previously of HK$1,075 is now raised to <strong>HK$1,121<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>These levels will be effective on September 28th, 2019 and directly applicable to any Standard Employment Contract signed between a foreign domestic helper and an employer on or after said date. Make sure you comply with this rise in minimum salary when renewing your domestic helper&#8217;s contract or hiring a new helper.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/registration\/childcare\/applicant\">Find a job with HelperChoice now! \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"HelperChoice_Annual_Salary_Survey\"><\/span>HelperChoice Annual Salary Survey<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>In parallel for the third consecutive year, <\/strong>\u200b<strong>HelperChoice has analysed the data of more than 30,000 job ads posted on its platform between July 2018 and July 2019 to determine which areas foreign domestic workers can expect to earn the most and the least. This study was carried out as the Hong Kong Labour Department is expected to announce the foreign domestic workers minimum wage re-evaluation by the end of this month. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For the third consecutive year, \u200bHelperChoice\u200b\u2019s annual salary survey in Hong Kong shows an encouraging trend. This year, the average salary of a foreign domestic worker is HK$4,945, equalling a 3.05% increase compared to the \u200bprevious study in 2018\u200b, and an 8.80% increase since 2017\u200b.<\/p>\n<p>However, we can identify clear disparities in the domestic helpers\u2019 salaries according to their employment location. Following the trends of our previous years\u2019 observations, families living in areas considered as more wealthy offer a higher salary to their helpers.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, the top five Hong Kong districts with the highest wages were the same as those in 2018: the Southern side, Wan Chai, Central &amp; Western districts, Sai Kung and the Islands. Foreign domestic workers in these districts might expect an average salary of HK$5,148 in these areas, with two employers offering up to HK$10,000 per month.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, the five districts offering the lowest salaries in 2019 were: Wong Tai Sin, Kwun Tong, Kwai Tsing, Tsuen Wan and Kowloon City. Employers in these areas offer an average salary of HK$4,696, which is only HK$176 above the Minimum Allowable Salary (MAW) of HK$4,520.<\/p>\n<p>If we go back in time, we can observe that the Minimum Allowable Salary (MAW) increases, on average, by 2.4% every year and follows the Consumer Price Index (CPI) trend, which evolves at an average rate of 2.5% each year.<\/p>\n<p>This means that foreign domestic workers can still achieve their saving goals (children&#8217;s education, housing, retirement&#8230;) and send remittances without being impacted too much by the increase of consumer goods\u2019 prices.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Living arrangements <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In Hong Kong it is mandatory for domestic helpers to live with their employers as the domestic helpers\u2019 salary does not include the cost of accommodation, nor food allowance or medical expenses. Considering the housing costs in Hong Kong, this has of course a huge impact on the domestic helpers\u2019 budget and the money they can save or send back home. However, the comfort of the living arrangements plays a significant part of domestic workers\u2019 living conditions.<\/p>\n<p>As the employers can specify the type of accommodation they offer to their domestic workers, HelperChoice also investigated which types of living arrangements are the most common. The survey exposed that a large majority (66%) of job offers included a private room, whereas 22% offered a room shared with a child, 7% a room shared with another domestic worker and 5% a room shared with an adult. It is important to note that domestic helpers cannot sleep in the same room as another adult of the opposite sex.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"4592\" data-end=\"4626\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Employers_Should_Take_Away\"><\/span>What Employers Should Take Away<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"4628\" data-end=\"4744\">While the <strong data-start=\"4638\" data-end=\"4668\">FDH minimum allowable wage<\/strong> sets the legal baseline, many employers choose to offer higher salaries to:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"4745\" data-end=\"4839\">\n<li data-start=\"4745\" data-end=\"4776\">\n<p data-start=\"4747\" data-end=\"4776\">Attract experienced helpers<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"4777\" data-end=\"4798\">\n<p data-start=\"4779\" data-end=\"4798\">Improve retention<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"4799\" data-end=\"4839\">\n<p data-start=\"4801\" data-end=\"4839\">Build stronger working relationships<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"4841\" data-end=\"4951\">Fair pay, lawful contracts, and proper living arrangements form the foundation of ethical domestic employment.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4953\" data-end=\"5085\">At <a href=\"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/domestic-helpers\/hong-kong\">HelperChoice,<\/a> employers can view real market salary data, browse verified profiles, and hire with confidence\u2014without hidden fees.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/registration\/childcare\/applicant\">Find a job with HelperChoice now! \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/53107b15-4bb1-48b2-a576-094a74529a92-helperchoicesalarysurvey-hk-2019.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=12047&amp;action=edit\">Salary survey for Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong | HelperChoice\u00ae 2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated 03 February 2026 Minimum Allowable (MAW) Wage and Food Allowance in Hong-Kong The Labour Department announced on September 27th, 2019 the annual increase of the minimum allowable Wage, from HK$4,520 to HK$4,630 per month. The Food Allowance, previously of HK$1,075 is now raised to HK$1,121. These levels will be effective on September 28th, 2019 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":12231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"description":"Learn the FDH minimum allowable wage 2019\u20132020 in Hong Kong, food allowance rules, and salary trends from the HelperChoice annual survey.","title":"Minimum Allowable Wage 2019-2020 &amp; HelperChoice Salary Survey - HelperChoice Blog"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[185,343],"tags":[464],"class_list":["post-12230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-reports","category-salary-finances","tag-helperchoices-salary-survey"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/c700cd546779ab490d79ba718d973f216f275b1f-new-wage.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12230"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15296,"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12230\/revisions\/15296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.helperchoice.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}