Should HK Scrap the Live-In Maid Rule?

In Hong Kong, the debate of whether the city should scrap its "live-in" rule for foreign maids is heating up. Employment contracts in Hong Kong require domestic helpers to live with their employer and work six-day weeks.


http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/debate-on-hong-kong-s/1046572.html

complete no-brainer: of course it should be scrapped

The only thing keeping me from hiring a full-time helper is this live-in requirement. I have only a 2 bedroom place, but would love for someone to come and clean, do my laundry and the other annoyances that keep me and my family from being together when not working. I don't even need 6 day work-week...Monday to Friday, 5 to 7 hour days.

no brainer.. has to be scrapped.. the sooner the better..


lower level of abuse, higher freedom for maids.. atleast they work for fixed period of time..


for employers.. brings down the cost of owning/renting a bigger place.. good for property markets??

malka

What exactly do you mean by this:

This might also upgrade the quality of FDH as market will take over.

There are +300K FDH here. I am positive you are only hearing from a small percentage that complain about their helpers. Employers satisfied with their helpers will not complain and that number is far great than the ones that do.


Your statement "Raise the Quality" implies the helpers here are inadequate. This intensely belittles the hundreds of thousands here that are doing an amazing job with little salary and often times in terrible situations.


Most of the problems I hear about are from poorly treated helpers. That should be the main focus of any reform that is desperately needed in this city.


Abolish the live in rule is a great start but living out doesn't always work for the employers or the helpers. If you've ever been in a boarding house, they are often run by slum lords and the girls are stacked in like cord wood. Rents are high and most helpers cannot afford to pay the rent when much of their earnings are sent home. Regardless, FDH's should still have the option and right to live out.


Like any job one applies and is hired for, it comes down to an interview. Simple as that.


Keep it simple - introducing more stringent course requirements etc will only increase the cost to helpers, may of whom are from poor families, from the onset and open the door to price gouging from those running the courses.


If a helper can afford to take a training course it bodes well on her resume. If they cannot afford it, it doesn't mean they won't be a great helper. Your system makes it unattainable for the poor that cannot afford "schooling" and those people, most of all, desperately need the employment.


Working on cleaning up the unsafe, over worked, under paid, poorly treated part of the situation first. That would go a long way to improving the vast number of human rights abuses that are occurring here in this city on daily basis.

The bottom of the article that started this thread states the following:


Michael Lee, District Councillor from the Liberal Party, said: "It (scrapping the rule) will create a lot of social problems -- for example, insurance problems.


“We cannot guarantee they are safe when they go out at night, and we cannot control what they are doing. Maybe they go to the bars, to the pubs to have their social activities."


The Liberal Party also believes employers should be allowed to immediately fire helpers without the current one-month notice, and employers should not be obligated to provide a plane ticket home.


Who is this Guy - Michael Lee? Is this really the Liberal parties stance? If it is, then they are so far right or left (if your dyslectic which they seem to be) from being a Liberal party.


Let's look at his statements:

"Cannot guarantee their safety" …………What???????? HK is one of the safest cities in the world and they cannot even guarantee the safety of the helpers right now with the live in situation.


"we cannot control what they are doing"……… why do you need to do that.? When he finishes work and goes home, does his employer control what he is doing. Not!!!!


"Maybe they go to the bars, to the pubs to have their social activities."………What???? So the helpers are not allowed to have a social life? I cant believe this!!!! I bet he goes to pubs or the odd bar or God forbid, he might even go out to a restaurant with his friends to relax and have some good food.


Who is this guy? How can someone look himself in the mirror after making statements like this.


Find one of the bad employers here in HK and make him work in that environment for 2 months. Wonder what the idiot would say then.

If Boarding Houses are taken into consideration as the main place for live out helpers to stay, then HK population needs to know a few things about how the boarding houses work. In addition to the comments of camomaster.

The boarding houses also have a fair amount of binge drinking and gambling. Often personal items are stolen. There are a fair number of workers who prefer to in live rather than live under such conditions.

It is my opinion that the HK employers look at this in a short sided way and do not really understand what the consequences of scrapping the live in law would entail.

I am not saying it shouldn't be done, but what if it was up to the employer and employee with the Immigration agreement?

Im sorry malka but I disagree that HKimm should decide. I believe there is already a basic "qualification" in place already and no need to change that. That is not the problem. Its the same as when an Xpat is hired in HK by an employer. Its up to the hiring company to hire or not and HKimm only approves it usually based on the companies standing. Whether he is hired by the company is based on his resume.


Getting HKimm more involved in the hiring process only serves to complicate the matters more.

Its better to be scrapped.. Instead they can built several dormitory in each district where maid stays instead of employers home & employer pays 50% of living cost.

How can we contribute to the process? is there an online petiton where we can sign to scrap this live-in rule.. ??

How would one propose to house all the live-out FDHs?