Posted by
lngg
18 yrs ago
My helper has begun in august and we give to her all the public holidays + 1 days per week (sunday).
But today for example, all the helpers of our neighbourgs are working.
Is it normal or not?
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TC
18 yrs ago
Yesterday was a public holiday in HK to celebrate the Chung Yeung Festival. It is a statutory holiday in HK. There are two types of public holiday in HK - 'statutory holidays' to which all employees (including domestic helpers) are entitled a day off, and 'general holidays' which are given at the employer's discretion. So domestic helpers should have had yesterday off. I was in the Sha Tin area yesterday and was surprised at the lack of helpers around the park area. There's a link at the top of this forum to a list of the 12 statutory holidays.
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Yes, yesterday should have been a day off for all helpers, but of course there are many rules that are not followed. This is one of the reasons you will now see so many Indonesian helpers - people apparently prefer them as they can pay them less than the minimum wage (illegally) and make them work on holidays and Sundays (also illegally). Indonesian helpers are currently less likely to complain about this paricular abuse of the working relationship. Hopefully in time it will change. All my neighbours' helpers were also working yesterday.
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MC
18 yrs ago
for the 1st 3 months of a contract, the DH is not entitled to any public holidays.
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TC
18 yrs ago
WRONG! The helper IS legally entitled to the holiday, but not to be paid for it.
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Some employers cannot manage without a helper for a couple of days and will break the law because it is not "convenient".
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And the police/immigration/labour dept (whoever is responsible) all turn a blind eye because they are doing it themselves, presumably.
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And some of us give an alternative day off as compensation which is perfectly legal.
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Yes, but most don't, from what I see going on around me here.
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