helper just told me she is pregnant

I have just been told by my helper that she is 3 months pregnant and my head is now in a complete spin. I am delighted for her of course - she is wonderful with my 4 year old. She lives in and I am not wondering what the "normal" thing to do is. Of course she is entitled to 10 weeks maternity leave and pay etc and that is fine but she said something about not having the baby in the phillipines as it was too expensive so would have the baby in HK. Am i under any obligation for the baby to stay in my house after its born? she said she would work until 8 months and then take the baby back to her parents when it is 1 month old - dont really see how that will work. she obviously wont be working for me during that time but will still be living with us - so do i employ another temporary helper?? so confused right now

I suggest you call someone in the know (governmentwise) or maybe even at the Philippine consulate, to ask what the protocol is in such a situation. Of course, it sounds to me like you like your helper and you look at her and a permanent fixture, so well, maybe what you need to look into is a substitute helper for the 2 months or whatever that she plans on being out of circulation...I mean, you don't want to end up being the one having to take care of her, being as you are the one who employed her and not the other way around.


Woah...messy situation...you have every right to be confused, but yes, I would highly recommend you call the labor department or something...find out what the protocol is. CYA, always cover your ass. If she decides she no longer wants to work, after having the baby, you might end up finding yourself upsh*t creek without a paddle, so be prepared to scope out another helper if there is a possibility of that.

I have no idea what the rules & regulations are in this situation, but I can't imagine that the regulations state that you are obliged to have the baby living in your home, with it's mother (your helper), who won't be working as she is on maternity leave. If she intends to have the baby in Hong Kong, surely it would be best if she then returns to the Philippines, where her family can help her out during her maternity leave. Whilst I believe you are responsible for seeing to her medical expenses (for which I assume you are insured), surely you can't be resposible for taking care of her and baby during her maternity leave? I'd be very interested to hear how employers stand in this situation when you check it out! Good luck!

i think it was just more the expectiation in her voice that that would happen. She also said that the baby would need to stay in hk for a month, and i am assuming thats for the injections etc. medical expenses will be minimal due to local hospital and assuming she has a healthy pregnancy. Ideally as you say she would have the baby here, return to her home town, spend the remainder of her maternity there then come back to us. arrgghhh , just dont need this on my plate right now!! Just found out a few hours ago, so will sleep on it and have a clear head in the morning hopefully

This happened to a friend of mine and this is what she did. She had the helper continue to work as usual for the next month or two while she looked for a replacement and when she found someone she liked, she sat her current helper down and offered to pay her out to the end of her maternity leave but the helper would have to return back to the Phils immediately.


That way, the helper got 6 months paid leave to go home and then have her baby. My friend told her she could not continue to employ her post-maternity as she could not have someone leave a newborn baby to take care of her family instead. Nor could she offer her helper to house her newborn in HK. So at the point, she would release the helper with one months leave in lieu of notice. The helper ended up accepting the 7 months pay and went back to Phils to have her baby.


I'm not saying this is the best way forward but this is one possible scenario (that seemed to me to meet your obligations as an ER -although I could be wrong). As my friend said, she could have contemplate having someone 6-7 mths pregnant washing her toilets and doing heavy lifting, and nor did she want to be the reason for separating a mom from her newborn to come work for her.


Anyway good luck. I really feel for you to be put in such a difficult position.

Same situation happened to us but I was pregnant too at the time. Our helper told us right away when she was pregnant and we discussed her options. She wanted to have the baby here which we were ok with but told her that her baby cannot stay with us. I called the department of labor and that is what they told me. While she can stay with us, her baby cannot. Doesn't quite make sense but I guess that's what the rule is. Anyway, she worked up until she was close to being due and did quite a good job and never complained about not being able to do anything because she was pregnant. I too felt guitly having her do the work in the house but also I had to remember that this was her choice not mine. There are plenty of pregnant women doing the same work. My advice for you is discuss with her options and such and see if you can come to a mutual decision. If she wants to stop working at 8 months you only have to pay her 10 weeks 4/5ths pay of maternity leave. After that, she doesn't get anything until she starts working again. You can't really terminate her without a very good reason. After she has the baby, it is much easier to terminate, should you decide to go that route. Good luck.

Almost, all pregnant helpers prefer to have their baby in HK, as you are the employer you a liable for all her health costs, whether the baby is born normally, or by C section, you are not liable for any costs relating to the baby i.e if it is born early or requires special care, and you can refuse to have the baby stay in your home after it is born.

I can't really believe that having a baby in the phillipines is more expensive than HK, most medical things are cheaper there.

It is up to you, whether you would like to look after your helper just pre and post delivery, and have a young baby to disturb possibly your nights sleep, especially if one or both of you work.

Many pregnant helpers treat pregnancy as an illness, rather than a normal occurrence, and start to refuse to do 'this and that', and play up, to do as little as possible, hope yours isn't one of these.

You have the options other postees have suggested, paying her off etc, one thing is for sure you cannot fire her.

I am really sorry you are in this position, whatever you decide will have to depend on how late she will be allowed by the airlines, to fly back to Phils while she is pregnant -- I think it is seven months into pregnancy if you prefer her to go back and have the baby.

Helpers prefer their babies being born here as they are able to use public hospital which is cheaper and far better equipped than The Philippines. Natural birth or C-section makes no difference to cost.

I have been through the same ordeal so I understand the stress you are under. Quick answers to your questions:


1. You have to allow your helper to stay at your home. Contractually she is entitled to live in your house, even though she is pregnant. You cannot let her stay out unless your contract with her is an "old" contract (first entered into many years ago when immigration policy allowed it and the contract was made on the basis that she lived out)).

2. Her baby is not your employee. You have the right not to allow the baby to be brought into your house.

3. You are not liable for her medical expenses incurred in connection with her pregnancy (eg prenatal and post-natal checks, delivery charges and hospital charges exclusively related to pregnancy). She has to pay, not you.

4. You have to be careful where it concerns injuries, accidents or death attributable wholly or partly to pregnancy because normally the insurance you have taken out for her does not cover these (even if the insurance covers not only employee compensation but also sickness, hospitalisation, dental, out-patient medical services etc) and you may be personally liable. Therefore, you would wish to relieve her of heavy work or risky work, like anything involving climbing up or down a bunk bed or standing on a ladder or a stool,etc.

5. Yes, it is cheaper here than in the Philippines because here, in public hospitals, pre-natal checks are free and HKD100 per day is payable for hospitalisation, so theoretically, if it is an uncomplicated pregnancy and a natural delivery, she can be out of the hospital in a day (public hospital policy), so the cost of having a baby here, prenatal care, delivery and post-natal care all included, can be as low as 100 bucks. And that 100 bucks covers all, bed, doc's fee, food and everything.

6. In my case, I had to employ a local part-time helper not only to take care of my child but also to take over her work and to cook for her and look after her. She had complications very early on in her pregnancy and was bed-ridden most of the time. Legally, I was not liable to look after her or to have someone cook for her, but it was hard to turn a blind eye to a sickly pregnant woman and not lend a hand ...

7. Yes, it is very stressful. Best thing to do is to sit her down and talk to her and see if a mutually agreeable arrangement can be worked out. May be she will take some money and go back to her home where her family can look after her.

I have a slightly different situation, and I wonder if anyone has any similar experience and can give any advice?


We had a great helper (the best we had ever had) so when we decided that we needed an extra helper (whilst my daughter was still small and with 2 large dogs) she suggested her sister came over as a direct hire from the Philippines.


So we hired her and she has been with us for 4.5 months.


Rather unexpectedly our good helper then informed us that she had applied to work in Canada - her timing wasn't great since we had only just employed her inexperienced sister (no helper experience, no HK experience) and it would've been preferable for her to at least have worked to the end of her contract and train her sister. I understand that she will earn a lot more money in Canada and all the benefits with working there so I'm happy that she will improve her job/life chances with the move.


My predicament now is that her newly hired sister has announced that she's 5 months pregnant (ie, she was 'just' pregnant when she arrived).


Any ideas where that leaves us on the responsibility front?

If I were you I would speak to IMM, about the fact this helper was pregnant before she came to you, and didn't disclose this info. Did no one do a medical or blood test ? which would have shown this before you signed a contract. If you didn't have a medical done, then you may be 'up the Swannie without a paddle"

As you did sign a contract, you may find you are still having to keep her, despite her being inexperienced as a helper. As an employer you are responsible for her medical care, but you don't have to agree to let her have the baby in Hk, or in your house after it is born.

It seems a big coincidence, that your longer term helper announces she is going to Canada, brings her sister over, then the newer helper announces she is pregnant, maybe they knew about the pregnancy before the newer one even came to Hk, and decided not to tell! because they know you a stuck, once you have signed a contract.

Considering the processing time of the employment contract, it may be possible that she didn't know she was pregnant when she arrived...


I would suggest you decide what you want to do and get an agreement with the helper (e.g. she works until you get a new helper, she goes home before giving birth.)

Maybe one of you might have already mentioned this as I haven't read through the many messages. If you are not sure what to do, talk to Pathfinders http://www.pathfinders.org.hk/public/. It is a HK charity and they deal with migrant women who are pregnant and not sure what to do. Equally so, if you as an employee are not sure, talk to them what your options are. They are many ways to handle this situation and it doesn't have to get ugly. It is a wonderful organization and really, they make sure that whatever the decision may be, it is the best one for everyone. Pathfinders can also direct everyone to the right hospital, government depart. etc. Honestly, this is by far your best option in my view. I hope this help!