Domestic Helper Forced To Work In A Shop in HK

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ORIGINAL POST

Posted by dk2009 16 yrs ago

Hello,

I would like some advice on how to report the abuse of an Indonesian woman on my street.

This woman works in a stationary and office supplies shop on the corner of my street in Sai Ying Pun. We have seen her in there a few times when we were shopping, and occasionally say hi to her in the back alley, which leads to the entrance to our apartment. The shop has a store room which is also in the back alley.

A few weeks ago, this woman saw my wife in the alley and asked her if it would be possible that we could purchase a sweater from a shop in Causeway Bay for her. My wife asked her why and she proceeded to tell the story that she had accidentally put the sweater of the male employer in the washer, and when she pulled out the laundry, she noticed that the sweater had shrunk. She notified her male employer who excused the problem, but the female employer (his wife) got very angry and told the Indonesian woman that her salary would be cut by $1800 even though her husband had excused the problem and the original value of the sweater was only $900.

She also indicated to my wife that she was on a domestic helper visa, but was being forced to work in the shop during normal business hours, which seem to be 9AM - 7PM.

In addition to the hours she is required to work at the shop, she is also required to do the normal chores at home that she was hired to perform. She told my wife that she is required to wake up at 6AM and after she gets home from working in the shop she must work until after midnight every night and most nights until 2 or 3AM.

She said that she is not allowed to take holidays on Sunday or public holidays. So basically she works 7 days a week from 6AM until late in the night.

I do not know much about Hong Kong labor laws, but I do know that this is strictly illegal.

When she told my wife about it, my wife didn't mention it to me for a few days and when she did, we were both struggling to decide what to do about it. She is obviously being taken advantage of and abused, but we didn't want to make the problems worse for her by confronting the employers ourselves and letting them know that this was not ethical or legal.

Today, my wife saw her in the alley way and said hello, and the woman told her that her employer hasn't paid her salary for 3 months.

This time my wife called me at work and we've decided that we cannot accept knowing that this illegal and cruel activity is being imposed on another human being right in front of our eyes.

We would like any advice on the proper channels we need to have the employer prosecuted. I understand that there may be certain proof that is required otherwise, many of the things that the Indonesian woman claims are merely hearsay. Although, I have witnessed her working in the shop and carrying supplies and materials from the store room to the shop multiple times and both myself and my wife are willing to testify in court.

Please let us know what we can do to help this person and stop the abuse.