Helper too old for health insurance policy

My helper is now 67 years old. She has been with us for 3 years. She is into her 2nd contract with us, due to finish June 2015.


The health insurance provider will no longer insure her, due to her age and I cannot find any other companies prepared to insurance a helper over the age of 65. My questions are;


1) Is it mandatory to have private health insurance for your helper, when they can legally use the public system?


2) If it is compulsory and I can't get insurance for her, can I terminate her contract on these grounds or is this "ageist"?


3) If terminating, is she due severance pay? We would need to find another helper so it's not technically redundancy, but she presumably wouldn't be able to find another job and would need to retire.


I have contacted Immigration for advice but their response was full of legal jargon I struggled to understand. They say "arrangement of health insurance for FDH is not governed by the Employment Ordinance and arrangements for such are set out in the T&C of the employment contract".


The green employment contract just states that an employer shall provide free medical treatment to the helper. I take this to mean private health insurance is not mandatory.


I am waiting for further clarification from Immigration as to my queries, but I wonder if anybody else has experience or insight into my predicament and could offer advice. Many thanks.

No, I don't think you need insurance, but you still need to be able to cover anything an insurance policy would. Healthcare, accidental injury, death...

While you await the official response from HK authorities, the practical answer is that your maid has already worked the past 3 years - presumably without any health issues - and only has under 1 year left in her current contract, so she doesn't appear to be a "high risk" health wise to keep her employed for at least the reminder of the remaining 11 months.


But as Kittyvcat2 has cautioned, you are indeed responsible for her health costs throughout the current contract regardless of your lacking insurance; in other words you are essentially "self-insuring" for your maid at the moment!


Please update when you finally receive the official response from the HK authorities.

1) Is it mandatory to have private health insurance for your helper, when they can legally use the public system?

Yes, this is part of your contract obligation. The policies are specific to domestic helpers,and there are many different types. Basic to all the bells and whistles


2) If it is compulsory and I can't get insurance for her, can I terminate her contract on these grounds or is this "ageist"?

No you cannot terminate on these grounds, but you are not required to give grounds for dismissal if you want to terminate it is your right and it is her right to quit. If you want to be generous, give her three months salary, but that would be an outright gift.


3) If terminating, is she due severance pay? We would need to find another helper so it's not technically redundancy, but she presumably wouldn't be able to find another job and would need to retire.

Yes, she is due pay either in the form of 30 days notice and pay for that 30 days plus air ticket home and travel allowance and untaken holiday OR one month salary in lieu of that notice plus the other stuff.

BTW, FYI, T and C of the employment contract refers to Terms and Conditions (I mentioned this in my answer point 2) Read your green contract you signed.

How's that speaking in acronyms :)

The employment ordinance is the labour laws that govern treatment and termination (your point 3)

Last thing, this is useful

http://www.immd.gov.hk/en/services/hk-visas/employ-domestic-helpers-from-abroad/guidebook.html

Bloomfieldtj, wondering if you have heard back from HK Immigartion about your inquiry yet? Most curious to hear what their response to your rather unusual situation.


Also, I happen to be refilling our maid documents and out of curiosity reread the finer details of her insurance policy ... it clearly states that the age limit coverage is only until 60 years of age ... so your maid is a good 7 years past this limit! When I called to further inquire if this age limit is standard procedure for all HK maid insurance policies, I was told yes. Which got me wondering ... in your case how did you (or her former employer) get any insurance policy for your maid over the past few years (or was she never insured ober the past 7 years)?


Again, please share when you receive the official response from the HK authorities, as there must be others in the same dilemma ... Thanks & Good Luck!

All Employers in Hong Kong must take out insurance to cover their employees - just because you happen to be employing a FDH makes no difference.



There are two main government departments that cover FDH employment:

1/Labour Department

They look at employment issues ie payment of wages, holidays given (or not) etc (just as they would for any HK employee)

2/Immigration Department

They look at immigration issues related to the FDH's immigration status.


As an employer of a FDH you need to be aware of the above and the obligations which you may possibly have ie if she hurts herself at work did you take precautions to avoid this injury? ie had you provided suitable gloves to stop her injuring herself when handling corrosive liquids? (this would be LD related). If she stayed beyond her visa expiry the Immigration would be involved.


Don't want to unduly scare employers however at least look in to your obligations and understand that you may, in certain situations, need to deal with both departments.

You are not required to provide health insurance for a helper unless you agreed to do so in the employment contract; however, you are responsible to provide any medical care the helper needs while she is employed by you. Medical Insurance is recommended but not required.Your questions are addressed in a document at this link: http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/wcp/FDHguide.pdf

REVJIM is correct about medical insurance however all employers of FDH must take out Employees Compensation Insurance and the policies for FDH available usually bundle in extra insurance cover such as medical insurance.