Many Hong Kong people rely on the assistance of foreign domestic helpers in their chores, including cleaning, cooking and looking after children and the elderly. Before hiring a reliable helper, it is important to find a trustworthy agency to help with the employment.
Complaints about agencies for domestic helper employment have been on the rise. The Consumer Council received a total of 260 complaints against domestic helper agencies in 2011, a 21% increase compared to the 214 cases in 2010. In the first 4 months of 2012, 75 cases have been received.
Complainants said they were cheated by the domestic helper agencies, which 'did not deliver the persons as promised'. The helpers referred by the agencies were found to be incapable of doing their job, never turned up or after working for a short period of time, they left their employers.
Below are 3 typical complaint cases where the services provided by the agencies did not live up to the employers' expectation.
Case 1
Ms Chan, a mother of two small children, was recommended by an agency a domestic helper who claimed to have 4 years of experience in childcare. Upon the arrival of the helper, Ms Chan soon found that she had impaired fingers, and had difficulty in performing tasks such as holding a milk bottle, scooping milk powder, tying shoelaces and fastening name tags for the kids. But what made Ms Chan more frustrated was the helper's obvious lack of experience in childcare.
Ms Chan soon found that the helper's experience claimed by the agency was misleading when the helper admitted that she only had 4 years of work experience in caring for the elderly instead of child care. Ms Chan eventually dismissed the helper and took her case to the Consumer Council. She demanded compensation from the agency for the expenses incurred for employing an unsuitable worker - including the salary, insurance, body check-ups and air tickets.
In response, the agency argued that it had no prior knowledge of the helper's disability, since the helper filed her own resume. The agency finally agreed to compensate Ms Chan for the cost of the air tickets.
Case 2
Ms Wong employed a foreign domestic helper through an agency, but after her first day of the job, the helper resigned because of family reasons. Out of compassion to the helper' situation, Ms Wong agreed to cancel the contract and paid HK$2,549 for her return air ticket.
Two months later, Ms Wong accidentally met the helper at a ferry terminal, who had just returned from Macau. Ms Wong immediately asked her why she had not returned to her home country, but the helper did not answer and ran away. Ms Wong eventually sought clarification from the agency, which replied that the helper had found a new employer so she did not have to return to her home country.
Ms Wong suspected that the agency had conspired with the helper to cheat her out of the service fee and air ticket fee. She hence lodged a complaint with the Council, and asked for a total of HK$5,049 compensation. The agency however rejected the allegation. As a settlement could not be reached, the Council advised Ms Wong to consider pursuing the case by civil means.
Case 3
An expectant mother Ms Lee was in desperate need of a domestic helper who could handle household work and take care of her one-year-old son, who was suffering from congenital diseases. She contacted an agency for service to hire a domestic helper. After paying HK$4,380 for the employment service, Ms Lee made 4 choices of domestic helpers but the employment was not successful. Reasons for the failure to hire the helper include: 2 candidates refused to accept the offer, one had visa problems, and in one case the agency could not confirm the date of arrival of the helper.
After waiting for two months, and seeing no progress with the case, five months pregnant Ms Lee took her case to the Consumer Council, hoping that the agency could expedite her application. In the end, the agency could not arrange for a domestic helper, and agreed to a full refund of HK$4,380 to Ms Lee.
Consumers are advised of the following when seeking the service of a domestic helper agency:
- Choose an agency with good reputation. It is also advisable to ask your friends or relatives for recommendations.
- Given the long period of time required for processing applications and the number of variables involved in the employment process, consumers should allow ample time for hiring a foreign domestic helper.
- If you are hiring a helper who is already working in Hong Kong, interviews can be conducted locally, and you can ask for reference from the helper's previous employer.
- The employer should ensure that the date of availability of the helper is clearly stated in the service contract between the employer and the agency.
- If there is sufficient evidence that a domestic helper is in breach of any terms in the employment contract, an employer may lodge the case to the Labour Department and seek assistance. If a domestic helper runs away from the employer after starting the job, the employer is advised to report the case to the police - then they should also report the case to the Labour Department and Immigration Department.
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