3 Days In and Our Helper is Pregnant

Posted by rfasanel (284 days ago)

We had our new helper take her physical in HK at the direction of the agency as opposed to in the Philipeans. Turns out she's pregnant. Now what?

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Posted by Spockey (284 days ago)

That was not good advice by the agency. They are supposed to have it done before their arrival as you can still cancel the visa before your DH's arrival. Agencies usually allow a change within a stipulated time e.g. a month. So, perhaps you can ask for one.

If you are stuck with this person, you may not have any choice but to buy her out of her contract (as many have had to do when faced with this situation) or make her work through the contract and when it's time to give birth, she gets unpaid leave.

Good Luck.

Posted by rfasanel (284 days ago)

thanks...any general sense as to how much it would take to package her out. we pay her 4K honkie a month.

Posted by Katetam (283 days ago)

Your agency (if you give them an earache)... should change the helper for you... usually change within 1 month (some 3 months)... for an administration cost like $ 500.... but in your case, I would blast the agency until they waive any charges and just change the helper for you at no cost.... tell them they cheated you because what's the point of having the medical test then? And talk to the helper, wouldn't she rather be home with her "family" and "friends" during her pregnancy than having to work here by herself....convince her to go home. good luck. What a headache!

Posted by ausmob (283 days ago)

Dangerous waters - both moral and legal. You have publicly declared here that you want to terminate a helper due to her pregnancy - that is an illegal act. She may owe the agency (or loan sharks) a lot of money and if you 'find' a reason to terminate her then you will be pushing her into a cycle of debt that may be inescapable if she is unemployed. A horrible, soul destroying option.

Is she fit and healthy? Do you require heavy lifting of her? A woman can be pregnant and look after children and clean a house. Remember that most of the world work during their pregnancy.

I know that it wasn't your plan but maybe this is an opportunity to do good and share your good fortune. Karma?

Posted by Claire (283 days ago)

Sounds like some fraudulent practice going on.

Posted by Moppet (283 days ago)

What happens if your helper happens to be pregnant and rubbish at her job? would you not be able to terminate her if she is not doing her job properly or fitting into your household. How would you prove you weren't terminating due to the pregnancy?
It would be wrong to fire someone because they are pregnant but the fact this helper has only been employed for 3 days and was not honest about it makes it a different ball game. I think you should do what you have to for your familly rather than for the helper, it may sound tough but i would struggle to trust the helper after this anyway.

Posted by BloodDiamond (283 days ago)

Sounds to me like she falisfied her application by NOT delaring she was prego... You shoudl not have to bear that burden!!

Posted by rfasanel (283 days ago)

she won't acknowledge that she's pregnant - after 2 tests. she says that she's going to get us proof that she's not. i think she's going to get an abortion. she seems so desperate for work - it's really quite sad.

Posted by mrsl (283 days ago)

It is quite sad. I would ask myself 2 questions (i) does her pregancy make any difference to you in terms of her day to day responsibilities? and (ii) assuming that she did know that she was pregnant and lied about it, do you think that you can trust her going forward?

If our helper told me tomorrow morning that she was pregnant, it would not make any difference to us. Her duties are fairly light, her hours are not bad and she has plenty of downtime to rest. If she decided to give up work after the baby was born, again, it would not be an issue. We do not depend on her for childcare etc. though, so the inconvenience would be minimal.

It is possible that she is only a few weeks pregnany and genuinely did not know, hence no trust issue. That would not absolve the agency though; I always thought that they had to arrange the medical before the helper came to HK.

Posted by omaharrison (283 days ago)

I thik if you contact the agency and give a nice talk about thier malpractice and mention the fact that 'friends' mentioned to you the ICAC it might help. These 4 letters work miracles in HK. Good luck and poor helper I am certain someone lied to her as well.

Posted by Katetam (283 days ago)

I know all about the discrimination law against a pregnant woman at work. However, honestly, I would NOT want a pregnant helper in the household. she would NOT be a helper, but a definite burden to our household. I would have to worry about her health, her psyhological state, her emotional state, her finances, her monthly check ups, her baby's health, and condition, whether she was too tired, overworking, whether she feels alright daily, whether she is going to have miscarriage if she mops the floor... I have no idea her health whether is fit for pregancny of not... let alone your helper being only in your house for 3 days. You hardly just got used to calling her name around the house! I would worry about her lifting my kids, and leaving her alone in the house with my children.... and taking care of my dog while I am not home... etc. Forget it.

Let's be honest- you mean there would be employers out there who would CHOOSE to have a pregnant helper around if you had a choice? Of course not.
There you go, that's the answer, 3 days is NOTHING into the contract. You were completely misled and lied to by the agency and this helper.

One of my helpers didn't even START to work 3 days arriving to HK, I allowed her 3 days to just settle down, get her phone card, get her HKID, familiarize with MTR .... I would hit the roof if she told me upon her arrival that she was pregnant.

Sorry, not discriminating, but defintiely affects her performance in comparison to if she WASN'T pregnant.

How would you ask her to help you cook or prepare dinner or take care of your kids if she had morning sickness all day or something? I wouldn;t have the heart.

Posted by kittycat2 (282 days ago)

BUT, she should have done the test before you employed her, really. Every employer takes this chance when employing a woman. Personally I would try and come to an amicable arrangement - you need to give her maternity leave but it doesn't need to be paid, I'm not sure what the legal requirements are with regard to accommodation and food during this time. Bear in mind that she's probably even less pleased with this than you are. I'd go with the karma view. If she can work for you for the next few months, then resign, go home, have the baby, with a couple of months' salary to tide her over (that's the karma thing again, if you can afford it) - that would give you enough time to find a replacement, and her enough time to pay back her agency fees, hopefully.

Posted by rfasanel (282 days ago)

and i could use a little karma these days!

Posted by -sa (281 days ago)

Hi, I am sorry to hear of your predicament. But had a comment on something else-couldn't help it. I am Indian and have an opinion on this.
Karma is NOT equal to good fortune since you are looking for some!:) Karma means action and it only explains that cycle of cause and effect will happen. However you deal with this upsetting situation is going to be your karma. The Fruits of your previous deeds or karma is what you are looking for. Cheers!!

Posted by Airay (281 days ago)

My helper told me if the employer terminates the contract within three month after the contract begins. The helper will get 3/4 of her placement fee (the money gives to the agency).

Posted by Ausmum (281 days ago)

I haven't got a copy of the contract handy but don't they have to 'work' for a period of time to earn their maternity leave? I could be way off base here but in most employment relationships you have to have worked for 12 months or so to be entitled to maternity leave. ????

Sorry for your dilemma.....I wish there was a good solution for both parties!

Posted by kittycat2 (281 days ago)

Think you have to give leave (you can't NOT give someone time off to have a baby, think about it, and it would be pretty inhumane to get them out of the hospital and straight back to work) - but they are not entitled to PAID leave unless they have been working for you for 40 weeks (?not sure exactly) continuously before the expected delivery date. So I think you 're ok as regards paid leave, although suspect this is the least of your worries. Good luck, with whatever you decide to do.

Posted by missdj (279 days ago)

Personally, I would not want this after 3 days of employeement. Someone has not been truthful about her medical. Maybe ask her what her future plans are, keep baby, give up, childcare, etc. My friends here recently adopted a baby locally in HK, and the birth mother was a helper who gave the baby up for adoption.

It depends on the typw of work she does daily with you, lifting, cooking, children.

Posted by Elodie (272 days ago)

Rfasanel,
Noone can be dismissed from their employment if they are pregnant, whether or not they told you before hand, or were pregnant before you employed them. If you have signed a contract with the staff and she started her employment in due course, then she is your employee and you cannot fire her, regardless of how long she's been working for you. If the agency offers a replacement helper, it means you terminate the contract with your helper, which is illegal. Unless, of course, your helper's work contract is with the agency, in which case it's not your problem.
Also, helpers are entitled, as is anyone, to maternity leave if they have worked for you for a continuous period of 40 weeks. Since you cannot fire her, she will be entitled to maternity leave by the time confinement is due to commence, it's the law. All she needs to do is formally inform you of her pregnancy, due date, and intention to take maternity leave (which can be start anytime between 2 to 4 weeks before due date)
katetam, you say you're not discriminating, my a**! Have the labour laws and women's rights movements completely bypassed you?! By your standards, a pregnant mother woudn't be fit to be left alone with her firt born kids!!

Posted by evildeeds (272 days ago)

It seems the agency is completely at fault here, the medical was not performed back in the Philippines, god only knows why. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do as far as the helper is concerned. Just have her work with you.

Someone mentioned above she falsified her application by not saying she was pregnant. Actually that is not the case UNLESS she was specifically asked if she was pregnant and she ACTUALLY knew she was pregnant. If none of these apply then that is not a false statement.

I've hired women in the office only to find out they were pregnant, nothing I can do about it and it's just life. Women apparently do tend to have babies at some point in their lives. Remember if you have hired an FDH you are now an employer and subject to rules that bind employers and employees.

Posted by winter9 (271 days ago)

just out of curiousity, for all the people who says that you cannot fire a helper just because she's pregnant, but what if she has done something wrong, for e.g being careless in taking care of a baby. If that's the case, can I still fire her for this reason?

Posted by Nuri (271 days ago)

A local colleague of mine encounterd herself in the "helper is pregnant" situation. After a week or so of complaining to the other colleagues, she came to work one day and said that the situatuion was resolved because, as she said, the helper stole from her. She said that she could not find her dimond ring, called the police, they searched helper's room and found the ring. She immediately terminated her without any consequences.

Up untill now I am not sure whether the helper stole that ring...

Posted by IslandHopper (270 days ago)

winter9: "but what if she has done something wrong," -- it's possible to fire her for SERIOUS misconduct, but you need evidence for that.

About Nuri's colleague, I'm 100% sure that she made up the whole thing -- no one would call police to look for a missing ring before trying to find it herself there.

I guess that the helper was just too scared to challenge her in a court, which is a pity.
I would love to see people who abuse legal system sit in a jail. (As much as I'd like to see a stealing helper to do so but this case stinks so bad that no one can believe in that kind of coincidence )

Posted by A Mum (188 days ago)

The law says she is only entitled to maternity rights if she has worked for you continously for 4 weeks or more. It used to be 9 months but this was changed.