New FDH is "helpless"

After 6 years working for us our maid did not renew her contract as she wanted to go home. Her leaving was well prepared timewise & we hired a new helper from an agency. The new helpers profile was saying she worked in Singapore for 2 years. Language is english, cooking good & experience in childcare. The childcare is most important for us as we have a 6 year old son to take care of.

Now the helper is with us 1 month & it turns out as a desaster:

1) Her spoken english is that bad that we have to double-check with her whatever we are talking with her & still not sure afterwards if she really understood the full meaning. I am talking about basic issues.

2) Cooking skills are almost not existing - timing for preparing dinner, set-up table etc also not existing.

3) Child care: She dont know how to communicate with our son - she is like a piece of wood & whenever problems arise she dont know how to handle the 6 year old.

Result: We are now making a to-do-list stick on the fridge after explaining her every evening - but this is also not really helping. She is very "forgetful" - things we explain to her (like to use the dehumidifier) - 2 days later she forgot and her respond is: "Next time Mum".

I have asked her the phone number of her former Singapore employer - she gave it to me without problem. I called that ex employer & had some short questions:

1) How was her english ? Answer: Very bad we had to write down everything.

2) What about childcare ? Answer: Our boys have been 10 & 14 already when she worked + they have been very independent - so she didnt need to take care of them.

3) How was her cooking ? Answer: My husband never liked what she was cooking.......


Good - so all the info in the agency profile was not really correct: Language english should have been: Can read but not really speak

Childcare: Yes there have been children - but she didn't need to take care beside providing food to them.

Recently we have sticked a A4 message on the bedroom door of our son reading like that: Please wake him up only at 10 (or wait until he wakes up by himself) - what did she do she waked him up at 9 as this was the routine discussed for the holidays. SHe at least walked in & out of our son bedroom 2 times before she waked him up at the wrong time. Question: Did you see that paper ? "Sorry Mum I didnt see it - next time".

We are slightly using our patience now as this helper is more work to us as helping us. We do all shopping, we mostly do all the things with our son, which means we have to cut our working hours dramatically either one of us. We are thinking now to terminate her if this is not getting better within August.

If we do so we are the Idiots - must pay her 1 months extra (as we def not want to stay her in our place after we terminate her contract) - need to find a new helper - so all this & the fee for getting this "pearl" is more than HKD 10,000 just for having 2 or 3 months a hard time ?

If we really have to do so I want to complain at the agency and ask them for a refund of the fee for getting this helper. They are offering a replacement within 21 months (also not for free) but it must be also a helper from overseas & it seems this agency mainly is providing helper with 0 Hong Kong experience. They say they cannot help with local FDH.

Anybody ever tried to challenge an agency - I really want to bring that case forward !

Last not least: When we paid our helper her first salary - I said (half joking - but she anyhow did not understood the joke): Then you go WESTERN UNION on Sunday to send money to your Family ?

No, she need to pay back to the Philippines agency 5 months salary for getting the job. Sorry CHEATING from both sides - really terrible ! They are sending such a really unexperienced helper to HKG just for putting her into the debts for 5x HKD 3,740 as agency commission ? Something totally wrong with that system - and I think HKG Gov & Immigration urgently need to re-work that kind of practices. Also we as an employer are totally unprotected from such defaults. You dont like your maid ? Just terminate & pay 1 more month & send her out immediately... I dont think this is a very good system. In our case I am very reluctant to do so, as we really feel cheated by the agency.

Anybody similar experience ? Would be interested if any claims against agency sucessful. Thanks.

Well appreciated your thoughts - but is useless. I very well know how "I earn how to feed myself". Are you from Philippines ?

It seems that keeping her is only going to prolonged your problems. Personally, I would start to interview for a new helper because she is obviously not satisfactory for your family. You could go through the agent again, but getting someone on recommendation from a friend or aquaintance is a far better solution ...

another reason why Hong Kong should abandon the FDH scheme and hire local people to do the work. The scheme exploits the poor on many different levels.

For Sapphire: Already settled with a new one. The problem of the existing one is that she really does not know what to do at all. Making any own decision, judgement etc seems impossible for her. How can let her go out on the streets with our 6 year old boy ? She forgets everything.

For unattendedbag: Yes I agree to some extend. But actually 300,000 helpers in HKG are contributing a huge part of GSP to their own countries. The "problem" rather is originated from their countries side first. I know many people here in HKG treat the helpers very lousy - but do not generalize that: Our last helper was like a family member - she attended every family gathering together with us, same food if it was sushi, sashimi or steak or simple chinese or italain cooking. But there is a certain limit. The helper we have now is giving us a LOT OF WORK as we simply rather prefer to do some things by ourselves instead of explaining it to her & she still do it wrong, even the most basic things.

By the way: We are a very easy going household - with 2 adults & 1 kid. Both adults working & kid almost whole day in school......... I have talked to a helper working for a family of 8 + 4 dogs + 2 appartments to clean. She said - Sir I dont mind if my next family is a little bit smaller........

juergenw ... on one hand, you say that you are reluctant to terminate your helper and go through the agent to find another. And on the other hand, even though you say she has so far been a disaster, you also say that you are "Already settled with a new one".


The question in your original post was if anyone had made any successful claims against an agency ... Whether or not this is the case, are you still settled with your new one?


More importantly, it seems that you don't trust her to be able to look after your 6 year old ... I can't imagine why you would want to settle for her ...?

Sapphire: Maybe you misunderstood. We have hired a new helper already - with the old one there is nothing to settle because she is simply not fit for the job. New one we hired with another agency - claim against the other agency is under proceeding. Got it ?

Tania: Yes they all want to "try Hong Kong" our government is protecting them with a certain kind of "labour law" - but who is protecting us. In our case the point is very unfair in BOTH directions: First the agency is sending us really a TOTALLY UNEXPERIENCED HELPER - Second also for the helper it is somewhat unfair to send her here with ZERO skills - means she has to fail here. The chances for her to find a new employer who can handle her & her non existing skills are very very slim. SHe will have one contract after the other - and being terminated after a few weeks again & again. This is also part of our complain: How can the agency & their Philippine counterpart allow to let this maid run into that trap ? Why there is not a valuation system ? Or why there is not something like a probation period which would make it for both parties involved more easy & transparent.

juergenw -


"After 6 years working for us our maid did not renew her contract as she wanted to go home. Her leaving was well prepared timewise & we hired a new helper from an agency. The new helpers profile was saying she worked in Singapore for 2 years. Language is english, cooking good & experience in childcare. The childcare is most important for us as we have a 6 year old son to take care of.

Now the helper is with us 1 month & it turns out as a desaster:"


juergenw, from what you had written above, I'd assumed that your new helper was 'a disaster' and her credentials with the agency were incorrect, and you were saying that you were reluctanct to terminate her because you feel cheated by the agency ... I'd assumed that this was the helper you still had. Forgive me if I misunderstood ... your explanation was not very clear.

Any chance to go to the Small Claims Tribunal against the agency for lying in its advertising?