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歡迎收聽「長者法網智多聲」。無論您是正在打工還是老闆，都應該要認識與僱傭有關的法例。我們會一連幾節為大家介紹一下。這一節就先說一下僱傭合約和工資。
「僱傭合約」，即僱主與僱員之間，就僱傭條款訂立的協議，書面或口頭講的，也算是僱傭合約。只要不違反《僱傭條例》及其他法例，僱傭雙方可以隨意商討和確認僱傭條款的內容，好像是工資有多少、怎樣計算、有沒有加班費和津貼、有沒有雙糧和花紅、辭職要多久之前通知等等。勞工處編製了一份僱傭合約樣本供市民參考，大家可以在勞工處的網站下載。《僱傭條例》規定，僱主必須要在聘請之前，清楚通知員工他們的僱用條件細則是甚麼，否則僱主可以被檢控。
除了僱傭合約，老闆還可以以自僱方式，跟員工訂立服務合約。為避免將來可能有拗撬，老闆在訂立合約時，最好跟對方搞清楚身份，究竟是僱員還是承包商，亦即自僱人士。
至於怎樣分辨僱傭關係與承包關係呢？其實並沒有一個單一而概括的測試的，但可以考慮一些因素，好像是招聘和辭退由誰決定、誰支付工資、謀生工具和材料由誰提供、員工是否可以分享盈利，還是要承擔虧蝕的風險等。勞工處和稅務局都有參考準則，幫助大家評估一份服務合約是否僱傭合約，大家可以到這兩個政府部門的網頁看看。
常常說「出糧、出糧」，但原來工資不單只是薪金的，還可以包括很多東西，好像是小費、交通津貼、勤工津貼、佣金和超時工作補貼，都是工資的一部分。年終酬金、遣散費、長期服務金、疾病津貼、假期薪酬、年假薪酬及代通知金等，也是以工資的定義來計算。《僱傭條例》沒有規定僱主一定要發放年終酬金，勞資雙方應該自行達成協議，但如果合約訂明了是有年終酬金，而僱主又沒有根據合約向合資格的僱員發放年終酬金的話，就是犯法，可以被罰款。
由2011年5月1日開始，所有打工仔都受到法定最低工資保障，老闆如果沒有給予最低工資，就等同欠薪。根據《僱傭條例》，僱主如果故意及沒有合理辯解，而不準時發工資給員工，就是犯法，一經定罪可被罰款和監禁。勞工處制訂了有關法定最低工資的參考指引，同樣在網站找得到。
有老闆可能會問，工資要準時發放，但伙記壞，扣減他的工資行不行？答案是可以的，但當然不能亂扣了。好像是員工沒有上班、因為疏忽或做錯事而弄壞公司的物品、老闆已經提供食物及住宿費等，都可以是扣減工資的理由，但要按比例扣減，而且是有上限的。任何僱主如果非法扣除僱員的工資，可以被罰款和監禁。
工資當然要準時發放了，就算一時之間周轉不了，老闆最晚也要在工資期屆滿後的七天之內發放工資，否則就是拖欠薪金，要附加利息給伙記的。如果過了一整個月都沒有發薪，伙記就可以當作是雙方的僱傭合約已經終止，他們除了可以拿到法定賠償和終止合約賠償之外，還可以拿到解僱代通知金。僱主拖欠薪金是犯法的，可被罰款和監禁，拖欠薪金之後不支付利息也同樣是犯法，可以被罰款。如果打工仔察覺到老闆有一些破產徵狀，好像是不發工資、將公司的工具搬走等，就不要再等了，應該立刻找勞工處的勞資關係科幫忙。
好了，有關僱傭合約和工資就說到這裡，下一節我們再為大家講更多僱傭關係的議題吧。拜拜。
PrintStatutory Minimum Wage
The Minimum Wage Ordinance (Cap. 608) came into operation on 1 May 2011. Since then, the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) has become effective on the same day. With effect from 1 May 2023, the statutory minimum wage rate is revised to $40 per hour. In essence, wages payable to an employee in respect of any wage period, when averaged over the total number of hours worked in the wage period, should be no less than the SMW rate.
Since the calculation of minimum wage excludes the time that is not hours worked, payment made to the employee for any time that is not hours worked (e.g. rest day pay, holiday pay, annual leave pay, maternity leave pay, sickness allowance, etc.) must not be counted as part of the wages payable to the employee.
Failure to pay minimum wage amounts to a breach of the wage provisions. Under the Employment Ordinance, an employer who wilfully and without reasonable excuse fails to pay wages to an employee when it becomes due is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of $350,000 and to imprisonment for three years.
The Labour Department has set out some guidelines on SMW. You may click the following links to download the guidelines:
Statutory Minimum Wage: Reference Guidelines for Employers and Employees
Concise Guide to Statutory Minimum Wage
Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) applies to all employees, whether they are monthly-rated, daily-rated, permanent, casual, full-time, part-time or other employees, and regardless of whether or not they are employed under a continuous contract* as defined in the Employment Ordinance, with the following exceptions:
- persons to whom the Employment Ordinance does not apply (please click here for details)
- live-in domestic workers
- student interns as well as work experience students during a period of exempt student employment
Please note that SMW also applies to employees with disabilities and able-bodied employees alike. Special arrangement is provided under the Minimum Wage Ordinance so that persons with disabilities have the right to choose to undergo a productivity assessment to determine whether they should be remunerated at not lower than the SMW level or at a rate commensurate with their productivity. For details, please refer to the webpage Productivity Assessment for Persons with Disabilities under the Statutory Minimum Wage Regime published by the Labour Department..
*An employee engaged under a “continuous contract” is defined as one who has been employed under a contract of employment by the same employer for four weeks or more and has worked for 18 hours or more each week (i.e. the so-called “4-18” requirement)