{"id":32478,"date":"2026-02-27T07:37:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T07:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prelive-tdw.visibleone.app\/?post_type=insight-and-news&#038;p=32478"},"modified":"2026-03-26T07:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T07:49:24","slug":"legal-update-increase-of-statutory-minimum-wage-expected-to-take-effect-on-1-may-2026","status":"publish","type":"insight-and-news","link":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/insight-and-news\/legal-update-increase-of-statutory-minimum-wage-expected-to-take-effect-on-1-may-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal update: Increase of Statutory Minimum Wage expected to take effect on 1 May 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n    \n\n<div style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/wp-content\/themes\/tanner-de-witt\/images\/insightdetails.jpeg')\"\n    class=\"insight-news-detail-hero\" id=\"insight-news-detail-hero\">\n\n\t\t<div style=\"background-color:\" class=\"insight-news-detail-hero-overlay \"><\/div>\n            <div class=\"z-[0]\">\n                <div class=\"insight-news-breadcrumbs flex items-end practice-areas-featured-breadcrumbs \">\n                    <a class=\"page-link no-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/\">Home<\/a>                <\/div>\n\n\n                <div class=\"hero-title\">\n                    <h1>\n                        Legal update: Increase of Statutory Minimum Wage expected to take effect on 1 May 2026                    <\/h1>\n                <\/div>\n                \n                    <div style=\"\" class=\"hero-date \">\n\n                        <span class=\"month\">Feb<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"day\">27<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"year\">2026<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n    \n\n    \n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<script >\n    (function () {\n        document.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", () => {\n\n            const breadCrumbsContainer = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\".practice-areas-featured-breadcrumbs\"));\n\n            breadCrumbsContainer.forEach(container => {\n                const breadCrumbLinks = Array.from(container.querySelectorAll('.page-link'));\n                const breadCrumbSeperators = Array.from(container.querySelectorAll('.separator'));\n\n                if (Array.from(breadCrumbLinks).length === 1) {\n                    const homeNode = breadCrumbLinks[0];\n\n                    if (!homeNode) {\n                        return\n                    }\n\n                    const postTypeNode = homeNode.cloneNode(true);\n                    postTypeNode.textContent = \"Insights and News\";\n                    container.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', `<span class=\"separator practice-areas-featured-breadcrumb-item-slash\">\/<\/span>`)\n                    container.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', postTypeNode)\n                    breadCrumbLinks.push(postTypeNode);\n\n                    if (\"Insights\") {\n                        const categoryNode = homeNode.cloneNode(true);\n\n                        categoryNode.textContent = \"Insights\";\n                        container.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', `<span class=\"separator practice-areas-featured-breadcrumb-item-slash\">\/<\/span>`)\n                        container.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', categoryNode)\n                        breadCrumbLinks.push(categoryNode);\n                    }\n\n\n                    const titleNode = homeNode.cloneNode(true);\n\n                    titleNode.textContent = \"Legal update: Increase of Statutory Minimum Wage expected to take effect on 1 May 2026\";\n                    container.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', `<span class=\"separator practice-areas-featured-breadcrumb-item-slash\">\/<\/span>`)\n                    container.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', titleNode)\n                    breadCrumbLinks.push(titleNode);\n\n\n\n\n                }\n\n                breadCrumbLinks.forEach((link, index) => {\n\n                    link.classList.add('practice-areas-featured-breadcrumb-item-name');\n                    const origin = window.location.origin;\n                    const href = window.location.href;\n\n                    const originSplitter = window.location.href.includes(\"insight-and-news\") ? \"insight-and-news\" : window.location.href.includes('insights-and-news') ? \"insights-and-news\" : \"\"\n\n                    const paths = href.split(originSplitter);\n                    const links = paths[1].split(\"\/\").filter(Boolean)\n\n\n                    const resolvedOrigin = originSplitter ? (href.split(originSplitter)[0] || \"\") : (origin + \"\/\")\n\n                    if (index === 0) {\n\n                        if (!originSplitter) {\n                            link.href = origin\n                        } else {\n                            link.href = resolvedOrigin;\n                        }\n\n\n                    } else if (index === 1) {\n                        link.href = resolvedOrigin + originSplitter\n\n                    }\n                    else if (index === 2) {\n                        console.log(links)\n                        link.href = resolvedOrigin + originSplitter + \"\/\" + (links[0] || \"\")\n                    }\n                    else if (index === 3) {\n\n                        link.href = resolvedOrigin + originSplitter + \"\/\" + (links[0] || \"\") + \"\/\" + (links[1] || \"\")\n\n                    }\n\n\n\n                    \/\/ const words = link.textContent.split(\" \")\n                    \/\/ if (words.length > 4) {\n                    \/\/     link.textContent = words.slice(0, 4).join(\" \") + \"...\"\n                    \/\/ }\n\n                })\n\n                breadCrumbSeperators.forEach(separator => {\n                    separator.textContent = \"\/\"\n                    separator.classList.add('practice-areas-featured-breadcrumb-item-slash')\n                });\n\n\n            })\n\n\n        })\n        removeDivTag()\n    })();\n\n    function removeDivTag() {\n        console.log(\"remasfljas\");\n        const editorContainer = document.querySelector(\".editor-wysiwyg\");\n        \/\/ editorContainer.innerText = editorContainer.innerText.replace(\"<\/div>\", \"\")\n        Array.from(editorContainer.childNodes).forEach(el => {\n            if (el.textContent.includes(\"<\/div>\")) {\n                el.textContent = \"\"\n            }\n        })\n    }\n<\/script>\n\n<div class=\"editor-wysiwyg my-[40px]\">\n<div class=\"single-section\">\n<p id=\"ember60\" class=\"ember-view reader-text-block__paragraph\">Subject to the approval of the Legislative Council, and with effect on 1 May 2026:<\/p>\n<p id=\"ember62\" class=\"ember-view reader-text-block__paragraph\">1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the Statutory Minimum Wage will likely increase from HK$42.10 to HK$43.10 per hour, and<\/p>\n<p id=\"ember63\" class=\"ember-view reader-text-block__paragraph\">2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the monetary cap on the requirement of employers recording the total number of hours worked by employees will be revised from HK$17,200 to HK$17,600 per month.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"ember65\" class=\"ember-view reader-text-block__paragraph\">In light of the expected increase in Statutory Minimum Wage, employers are reminded of the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Subject to certain exceptions, the Statutory Minimum Wage generally applies to all employees regardless of the wage period, length of contract or working hours, and regardless of whether they are employed full time or part time.<\/li>\n<li>For the purpose of computing minimum wage, hours worked include any time when the employee is (i) at the place of employment as required by contract, agreement or instructions, regardless of whether actual work or training is provided; or (ii) travelling for work purposes (excluding regular commuting between home and the usual workplace). \u00a0A place of employment refers to any location where the employee is required to be, based on their contract, agreement or instructions, in order to perform work or undergo training.<\/li>\n<li>It is an offence if an employer wilfully and without reasonable excuse fails to pay wages when due, which includes payment of minimum wage. This is a breach of the Employment Ordinance, and the employer can be liable to a fine of HK$350,000 and imprisonment for 3 years.<\/li>\n<li>Minimum wage is a statutory right so any contract or agreement purporting to extinguish or reduce it shall be void.<\/li>\n<li>Employers must keep a record of the total number of hours worked by an employee in a wage period if the wages payable are less than the monetary cap which, until the revision takes effect, is currently HK$17,200.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"ember77\" class=\"ember-view reader-text-block__paragraph\">For more information, please refer to the guidelines issued by the Labour Department on Statutory Minimum Wage at\u00a0this <a class=\"DZHnnrAbXeVuiFkPBfBjGXNSqtJxMHMIQUhc \" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.labour.gov.hk\/eng\/public\/content2_smw.htm\" target=\"_self\" data-test-app-aware-link=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">link<\/a>, which will be updated as appropriate.<\/p>\n<p id=\"ember79\" class=\"ember-view reader-text-block__paragraph\">The changes in the Statutory Minimum Wage and its review mechanism were part of the 2025 Policy Address.\u00a0 For other employment issues the Chief Executive intends to act on, please refer to our article, <a class=\"DZHnnrAbXeVuiFkPBfBjGXNSqtJxMHMIQUhc \" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/key-employment-issues-from-the-2025-policy-address\/\" target=\"_self\" data-test-app-aware-link=\"\">Key Employment Issues from the 2025 Policy Address<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"single-section\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong><em>Russell Bennett<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For more information on employment matters, please contact:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/our-people\/russell-bennett\/\">Russell Bennett<\/a><br \/>Partner |\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:russellbennett@tannerdewitt.com\">Email<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Disclaimer: This publication is general in nature and is not intended to constitute legal advice. You should seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters dealt with in this publication.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Subject to the approval of the Legislative Council, and with effect on 1 May 2026: 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the Statutory Minimum Wage will likely increase from HK$42.10 to HK$43.10 per hour, and 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the monetary cap on the requirement of employers recording the total number of hours worked by employees will be revised from HK$17,200 to HK$17,600 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":32485,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[126,23],"insight-category":[1121],"insight-month":[1157],"insight-practice-area":[1131],"insight-year":[1162],"class_list":["post-32478","insight-and-news","type-insight-and-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-employment","tag-legal-updates","insight-category-legal-updates-and-insights","insight-month-february","insight-practice-area-employment","insight-year-1162"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-and-news\/32478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-and-news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/insight-and-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-and-news\/32478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32488,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-and-news\/32478\/revisions\/32488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32478"},{"taxonomy":"insight-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-category?post=32478"},{"taxonomy":"insight-month","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-month?post=32478"},{"taxonomy":"insight-practice-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-practice-area?post=32478"},{"taxonomy":"insight-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-year?post=32478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}