The increase of 211.4 patacas (23 euros) by 2026 marks the first revision of the minimum wage value, two years after the law’s implementation. The new minimum wage will be set at 7,280 patacas (789 euros) per month, 1,680 patacas (182 euros) per week, 272 patacas (31.6 euros) per day, or 35 patacas (3.8 euros) per hour.
Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance, Tai Kin Ip, emphasized during the law’s presentation in the Legislative Assembly that the revision followed a “comprehensive consideration of changes in the macroeconomy, the labor market, workers’ remuneration, and the operational condition of employers.”
The “recent economic performance of Macau,” opinions from employer and worker representatives within the Standing Committee for Social Consultation, “employers’ business environment, the protection of workers’ rights and interests, and consumer acceptance capacity” were factors considered by the executive in this revision.
This increase will affect about 18,000 people, representing 4.4% of the total workforce.
The revision continues to exclude domestic workers due to the “‘unique nature’ of domestic work and the need for the worker to ‘integrate’ into the employer’s family life,” explained Labor Affairs Bureau (DSAL) Director Chan Un Tong, also present at the law presentation in the Legislative Assembly.
Currently, for new contracts of domestic workers signed from July 2024, the minimum remuneration set by the DSAL is 3,200 patacas (345 euros).
The DSAL official noted that the median salary for these hires is around 3,800 patacas (410 euros), a figure that, according to the official, “demonstrates that, even excluded from the general regime, there are mechanisms ensuring reasonable remuneration.”
In 2023, Macau approved the expansion of the minimum wage, setting it at 34 patacas (3.69 euros) per hour or 7,072 patacas (7.7 euros) monthly, also excluding domestic workers from this statute.
Until that point, the minimum wage only covered cleaning and security workers in condominiums.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee questioned in July 2022 why, in Macau, non-resident domestic workers were “treated differently” from other workers, not being covered by the minimum wage.
“What measures is the DSAL taking to protect the lives of immigrant domestic workers, who are particularly vulnerable to illegal and abusive treatment by employers?” asked then-member of the Human Rights Committee, Shuichi Furuya.
Explaining why domestic workers were not entitled to the minimum wage, the DSAL responded to the UN committee in 2022 that this group of workers is “a special case” and that “employers are providing non-profit employment.”
According to official data from the DSAL, by the end of August, over 28,000 domestic workers were employed in Macau, most of whom were from the Philippines (about 15,250).
