A foreign domestic helper’s pay in Hong Kong has two separate parts, and both are legal minimums rather than suggestions. There is the Minimum Allowable Wage, paid in cash every month, and there is food — which you either provide yourself or replace with a food allowance. Employers routinely budget for the first and forget the second.
What You Must Pay Every Month
At a glance
| What | Per month | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Allowable Wage | HK$5,100 | Always — this is the wage itself |
| Food allowance | HK$1,236 | Only if you do not provide food |
| Total in cash | HK$6,336 | If you pay the allowance instead of providing food |
| Total in cash | HK$5,100 | If you provide food yourself |
- The Minimum Allowable Wage in cash — HK$5,100 per month at the current rate. This is the wage itself and cannot be reduced by deducting for food, lodging, or anything the helper is contractually entitled to receive free.
- Food — either provided free of charge, or replaced by a food allowance of at least HK$1,236 per month, paid in cash on top of the wage. The allowance is revised alongside the wage each year, so an employer who pays the allowance is budgeting HK$6,336 a month in total, not HK$5,100.
Converting a Monthly Wage to a Daily Rate
This trips people up because there are two different answers depending on why you are asking.
- For pro-rating an incomplete month — a helper who starts or leaves mid-month — the usual approach is the monthly wage divided by the number of days in that period, or by 30 as a working convention. At HK$5,100 that is about HK$170 per day.
- For statutory entitlements — holiday pay, annual leave pay, sickness allowance, payment in lieu of notice, severance and long service payment — the Employment Ordinance requires the average daily wages over the preceding 12 months, not a simple division. If wages have been steady these land close together; if there has been overtime or unpaid leave, they diverge.
What Else You Must Budget For
The wage is the largest line but nowhere near the whole cost. Over a two-year contract you also carry the following — and none of it may be charged back against her wage:
- Free accommodation with reasonable privacy, furnished as the contract sets out. It is provided in kind rather than paid, so it never shows up as a line item — but it is an obligation, not a favour.
- The Employees Retraining Levy, payable when you hire or renew. A pro-rata refund can be claimed if the contract ends early — easy money to forget.
- Employees’ compensation insurance, which is a legal requirement, not an optional policy.
- Air tickets to and from her place of origin, plus a daily food and travelling allowance for each journey.
- Medical treatment for the duration of the contract, including when she is unfit to work.
- At the end: payment for untaken annual leave, and possibly severance or long service payment depending on how the contract ends.
When the Figure Changes
Both figures are reviewed annually, announced around late September, and take effect within days. Which rate applies to a contract is fixed by the date it was signed — so an existing contract keeps its rate until renewal, and a renewal must meet whatever is current on the day you sign it. Whether you have to raise an existing helper’s wage, and when, is covered in full in Do I Have to Raise My Helper’s Salary When the Minimum Wage Goes Up?.
Common Mistakes
- Treating the food allowance as optional. If you do not provide food, the allowance is owed in cash on top of the wage.
- Deducting the cost of food, lodging or utilities from the wage. The wage is a floor; these are separate obligations you carry on top of it.
- Paying the old rate after a renewal. The signing date decides, and renewals are new contracts.
- Using a flat monthly-divided-by-30 figure for severance or long service payment. Those use average daily wages over 12 months, which is a different number.
- Assuming the wage covers the whole cost. Levy, insurance, tickets and medical care are all yours as well.
This article is for general reference and is not legal advice. Wage figures change annually — confirm the current Minimum Allowable Wage and food allowance with the Labour Department before signing or renewing a contract.
This article is for general reference only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Salary calculations may be inaccurate. Please verify all information against your employment contract, the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57), and professional advice. See our full Disclaimer.