Terrible agency

I got my helper through an agency two years ago and we have decided to renew her contract which will be expired in Sep. First of all, I didn't even know my helper's passport was being kept by the agency and they said they will charge me $3000 something(not including air ticket) for the new contract. We reckoned that's way too much and figured we would get it done ourselves so now the agency claimed that we can't get the paper work done without them and the helper's passport might have been lost?? I am very upset about the way they run their business. Can anyone help?

Is your helper Indonesian?

yes Ed.

The legal fee for a renewal is 10% of a months salary so @$360.


In some instances the agencies are charging over $12,000 in renewals - the lowest I have ever heard of is $3000 so actually you are doing well...


When asked why they are overcharging one agency told us that the consulate forces them to be 'extra fees' otherwise they refuse to process the applications...


The ICAC has looked at the 'extra fees' but have done nothing because the consular staff have diplomatic immunity.


Why dont you give the agency call and tell them that you have contacted the HK Labour Dept and have been informed that charging above 10% is illegal and ask the agency how they can justify this. You might also want to let them know that if they overcharge that you will report them to the labour department


http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/news/content.htm


Let us know how they respond to this.

Thanks for your message Ed. I've just spoken to Indoesian Consulate and they told me I can get all the paper work done independently and the cost is only $480. We are going to the agency to pick my helper's passport next week and hopefully we won't get any trouble or problems from the staff.

Surely it is illegal to hold onto somebody's passport?

That is very interesting... let me know once you get this done so we can put a notice up to avoid agencies and put the contact at the consulate on our site.

But how can we prove people's claims about agencies are true? This kind of thing is notoriously hard to prove. What happens is that the Hong Kong agent organises and knows everything, but it's actually in the Philippines that the money is collected. So the agents in Hong Kong can't be touched.


Two previous helpers of mine experienced this. The first one (Filipino) was 'obliged' to pay HKD10 000 to the agent in the Philippines, who gave it to the Hong Kong agent when she visited the Philippines. The Hong Kong agent admitted to my helper that she had had the money, but of course that's only verbal and she would never confess that in court.


In the second case, my Indonesian helper was obliged to borrow HKD18 000 from a loans company on the day of her arrival in Hong Kong and remit the whole lot to the agent in Indonesia. She then had to pay HKD3 000 per month to the loans company for 7 months in order to pay back the loan amount plus interest. If she didn't pay up, her family would be 'visited'. Probably she would be 'visited' if she was still in Hong Kong. Again, the Hong Kong agent simply collected the money (or at least a large portion of it) when she went to Indonesia to interview prospective maids.


A third way, which I've heard of but not experienced, is that agents will collect the money from the employers. The agent will set the employer up with a helper (almost always Indonesian) who is agreeing to receive about HKD2 000 salary (sometimes even less) whilst signing a receipt every month for minimum wage. The agent will charge an agency fee of about HKD10 000 - 20 000 for this. This is very wrong but it happens. And the agency gets away clean because they have only charged the employer, not the maid. So only the employer is breaking the law for underpaying the helper (although the helper actually agreed to it at the beginning).


With my 2 helpers, I wanted to do something to help them, but I was told that because the money was not handed over in Hong Kong, there's nothing that can be done.


About setting up a list of bad agencies to avoid: Ed, I'm surprised at your suggestion (you're usually against that sort of thing) but anyway have no objection against it. I only request we also include agencies that cheat the employers and not only agencies who rip off maids. Having been tricked and ripped off by all 3 of the agencies I've used in Hong Kong, I'd be very interested in this.

We wont allow agencies to be named here. If you need agency assistance we can help you http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/forums/domestichelpers/