Should i Fire her??

Sorry to hear about your bad experience! It seems to happen to most of us eventually....shame.

Anyway-

1. My new Dh took 10 days. She has completed her previous contract, and I begged the Immigration Dept to defer her leaving HK trip beacuse had to work. They agreed, and she started 2 weeks after I found her. I flew my mother in law over during that time, and used Rent a Mum.

2. This is just my opinion - I would give her the months money and then just get rid of her. If she causes trouble, the letter means nothing - she will say you forced her to sign/used to hit her blah.... The Immi and Labour Depts. only care that you terminate your helper , write a letter which she signs, giving the date of termination, and why, and supply her with a ticket. If you choose to say she stole in the letter, then it may be withtin your rights to not pay her. Now I have had a bad experience ( it went to Court), and I have had first hand advice from Immigration, I would always do the contracted minimum, regardless of how I felt about the helper. Your peace of mind, your home, baby etc. are more important than 3,000+ dollars.

I was told directly by immigration that if my heloper lost her case, she would more than likely turn straight round and say I had hit her and she wanted to prosecute me. This is a very common way of both staying in the country and earning, and also, getting back at the employer.

Document everything, do the conractual minimum, have her sign everything and get her out.

3. The best you can do here is be honest in your conversation with anyone who contacts you for a reference. I think its fairly obvious she is going to lie about why she was terminated to a prespective employer.


Just my 2 cents......good luck!

Agree with the above-mentioned. Unfortunately, even if you have a case against her, you just give her an opportunity to stay in HK for some time. There are many DHs who go to the Court. Of course, it doesn’t mean they win the cases, but at least they can stay here longer.

Also, if I were you I would fire her immediately. You have cornered her by making her sign that letter. She realizes that she'll be terminated. I wouldn't trust her being alone with your baby.

I should think this is a rather easy decision. You should fire her right away. Have her pack up and be gone in 1 hr. Tell potential employers why she was fired. People like that should never be able to find employment. Pretty stupid thinking people would never find out.

Sharry, I am a believer that there are actually quite a lot of good helpers around. However, finding them is always difficult. I would say that 90% of the helpers are very good to the children, but they could have other problems. I also believe that treating your DH nicely is good. However I have to say that most expat or non-local families are too nice. Personally I will never hire a helper who has worked for Western families.