firing a helper

dear all


i just hired a helper directly without an agent 2 months ago as she was introduced by my friend. she has then returned to philippines and now waiting for her visa to return to hk.


during this period she called me and said her kids were sick and needed to borrow $1,000. so i lent to her and later found out she had also borrowed a thousand from my friend as well. And whats more is that she is now telling me her mum is dying and cant start work on time as agreed.


I dont have a good feeling about this as it is already not a good start. My question is, what is the procedure of sacking a helper, or ending a contract, when she hasnt even started yet. my concern is the contract that i signed with her for 2 yrs. wondering how to get out of this agreement.


it would be great if anyone has any advice


regards

Have you actually signed all the papers, regarding you helpers employment? If you haven't done everything yet,you can just tell her you are not going to complete, I would contact Immigration, if you cannot get through by phone, email them they will reply.

An employer or employee can end a contract at any time, providing all payments due have been made, as this one has not done any work for you yet, and is in her home country, then she may not have to even come back to HK.

Seems like she is making all sorts of excuses to extort money out of you and your friend.

Thanks Susie


We (helper and I) have singed a green colour employment contract and submitted the application through an employment agency in July (direct hire). During this time she went back to the Philippines awaiting for her visa.


She sms me a month ago and asked to borrow money because her kids were sick. Then my agent called me a week later, telling me that they have not received the medical report from her which she meant to submit in Manilla. (she did not give reason why)


Later she texted me a message and saying her mum is dying in a few days and had to take care of her. I cant say i dont trust what she said as i believe no one would tell a lie about her mother's death.


So I asked her exactly when she thinks she is looking to return and she said in two months. That is just not good enough for me.... i have a 7 mth pregnant wife ready to give birth and we needed a helper to arrive a month ahead. If she turns up after baby's birth then the whole reason of hiring her isnt there anymore. I am starting to feel uncomfortable with her and want to pull out of this contract. Is this possible? At the moment, the working visa has not been issued, and she has not "officially" started working for me yet.


thanks

If you hired this helper through an agency, tell the agency that this is not acceptable and not to process this helper further, you do not want to employ her, if there is no medical report, then she could be trying to hide some medical problem, if she had a medical. Don't hand over any more money to the helper you have never hand. If you don't get much joy from the Agency, contact immigration, you can get their phone number and email details on the web sight, just type in hk immigration, foreign domestic helpers and somewhere on that sight you'll find

details for contact, good luck. If Cara or AXPAt guy come online they will be good to give you advice, they have lots of experience in Helpers and HK, more than I have.

I know we employers has the right to cancel the application, the helpers can only do it once - that is, if the application is still in process, not sure about your situation.


I guess your helper is not so keen, and she thinks you won't back out anymore as you've already signed.


My ex-helper for 2 months was so lazy, even answering me back,etc. She told my friend i won't terminate her as i was heavily pregnant then with a toddler. I just surprised her one day on my 7th month and told her she's terminated. It's easy to find a helper, there are a lot who needs job.


Good luck!

Hi Hinny,


It’s very simple, just write the cancellation letter to Immigration than fax to them or hand it offer to Immigration dept. and include the ref no. and the helper name.

If you had the acknowledgement than it will appear for Ref No and normally will start with EHEF .........-...

And the acknowledgement will send it to you by the Immigration Dept after two weeks of submitting the document with The Immigrations.


If you don’t have yet the ref no., just write down the helper name and her passport no.


Sent you sample for cancellation:



Date: _______________


The Director of Immigration Dept.

Immigration Tower, 6 Floors,

No. 7 Gloucester Rd.,

Wan Chai,

Hong Kong.



Re: CANCELLATION OF APPLICATION VISA FOR DOMESTIC HELPER



Re: Application for Domestic Helper Visa

______________________________

Ref. No. EHEF ___________-_______



Dear Sir/Madam,



I, __________________________ holder of HKID No. ______________________


Please be informed that I would like to cancel my application for Domestic Helper visa with the helper name _______________________, because _______________________________________.



Thanks for your kind attention to this matters.



Sincerely Yours,




_________________________________

Employer Name: ___________________

HKID No.: ________________________