How can I hire a helper for just 3 to 6 months?

Hello,

I have a short-term mission in Hong Kong starting end of January, for 3 to 6 months.

I will probably stay in a serviced apartment, but I need somebody to take care of my 2 year old toddler while I'm at work (not necessarily a live-in maid).


Is it easy to recruit a helper for such a short time? How long does it take for the immigration to process the DH visa?

And how much does a helper cost? (salary, insurance and so on)


Thanks a lot in advance for your help and advice

Janosarah

http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/helpers/parttime.asp

You can hire a local helper, but most likely they are Cantonese-speaking and trained in cleaning rather than childcare. Information about job matching and recruitment through the Labour Department is here: http://www.ld.gov.hk/english/servicesoffered/employment_services.htm


Your hotel may have some sort of babysitting service, but this might not cover all your working hours and could be quite expensive.


Foreign domestic helpers are on 2-year contracts and it can take 1 - 2 months to find a person and have them clear through immigration, even if they are already in HK. You have to have a HK ID card and an address before you start the hiring process. Information is available here from Immigration Dept: http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/faq_fdh.htm and here from Labour Dept: http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/content2_2.htm


Have you considered a nursery / kindergarten. Kindergarten starts at 2 years 8 months and some kindergartens take younger children in a nursery. Your child might be happier to be out with other children than in a hotel room. There are local (Cantonese) and international (English) nursery/kindergartens. Do a google search to find something near your job or hotel. Unfortunately, if you don't have a HK ID card, you might have difficulty registering your child in a kindergarten here.


Some families that I know have come with a babysitter/nanny - an older cousin or grandmother - who looked after the child by day and enjoyed HK by night.


Good luck!

I have a good baby sitter who worked for me before, i can recommand her to you. She is very good with baby and toddler.

Thanks a lot for all your answers and your valuable suggestions.

It seems that the better option would be to find a local nanny, or to have an undeclared one, which is probably not the smartest choice (I have a HKD ID card, but having to wait 2 months before having the maid's contract is just not possible).

I'd prefer to avoid putting him in a kindergarten, the poor little boy is going to go through a lot of changes next year, and I'm sure he'd appreciate to have a close relationship with his carer. But I keep this idea in mind anyway if I have no other possibility.

We thought about asking his grandmother to come and take care of him, but her Filipino passport doesn't allow her to stay for more than 15 days, so it's not really going to work.


Kakamummy (funny nickname), I'll probably contact you to have the details of your baby sitter, in case we really can't find any other solution.


Thanks a lot again to everybody to take some time to answer me.

Dear Kakamummy,

I am also looking for a part-time baby sitter. Can you please send me the contact details of the baby sitter you reccomend.

Thank you