The Macau Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) has said that according to the law no enterprise is allowed to use “shares” as a substitute for cash payroll.
Some Macau media have recently reported that Wynn Macau planned to replace 10% of salary with stocks for some middle and senior management employees.
When Macau Legislative Assembly member Lam U Tou asked DSAL about the legality of the Wynn Macau plan, DSAL replied on Tuesday that the Labor Relations Law stipulates that enterprises cannot pay employee salaries in the form of shares.
Article 63 of the Labor Relations Law stipulates that remuneration is paid in Macau legal tender.
“The compensation paid by the employer to the employee must be paid in money and must be paid in Macau’s legal tender (MOP),” DSAL outlined in its reply letter.
However, DSAL said that it would be acceptable for the employee and the employer to agree to pay some or all of the salary in a non-monetary way, despite this not complying with the Article 63 of the Labor Relations Law. However, the non-monetary component must be of equivalent value to the cash salary foregone.
DSAL also mentioned that if an employee’s salary is reduced without his or her consent, he or she can seek help from DSAL.
Subsequent to this article being published, Wynn Macau responded to DSAL’s comments by confirming that 90% of the company’s management had agreed to a reduction in salary on the basis that they would be offered shares of equal value to the salary reduction instead.
