Giving termination notice

I will be terminating my DH end of March. I understand I need to give 1 month notice or 1 month pay. I am choosing to pay her and give her no notice because I don't really trust her. But now, I'm not sure how long before hand I should tell her of her termination. I've heard of friends giving notice in the morning and making her leave by evening with the air ticket and money. But this seems a little harsh. Any advice or suggestions?

Legally you can terminate her contract and ask her to leave on the same day if you're giving her a month's pay in lieu of notice. It's really up to you when you want her out of your place, but if you don't trust her, it's best to have her leave ASAP before she can do something insidious (out of spite). It is also within your rights to check her baggage (including handbag) before she leaves, to make sure she's not pilfered any of your belongings. My friend's neighbour terminated her helper's contract with one month's notice. On the day her helper left, she checked all the bags and they were all fine. Her helper had asked beforehand if she could bake a cake the night before to take with her to the boarding house (where she was going to stay while looking for another job) to share with the other ladies. So she left with her bags and a cake. Later, the employer noticed a lot of jewellery missing. They reckon the helper must have baked the cake with all the jewellery in it. She'd left HK by then...........


As you don't trust your helper, I'd suggest asking her to leave on the same day, or definitely by the next day, but I'd also make sure first that she's got somewhere to go to. Most of them do, although she may pretend to be stranded with nowhere to go. If you employed her through an agency, send her back to the agency - they have boarding houses for helpers. If you didn't go through an agency, send her to a helpers' shelter run by the Catholic church. Ring the Catholic church social services number to book a place for her.

blcwc, thanks for our advice. I had no idea I could check her bags before she leaves. Sounds like a good idea.

I'm wondering if anyone can help us with the correct termination procedure, in terms of paperwork. Does anyone happen to also know what the termination letter should say to the government? Do we need to provide the helper with a copy of this letter? We actually have valid reasons to terminate but will give the month's pay anyway to be as kind as possible. Should we write down why we are terminating, or should we just be vague? Maybe I'm not looking in the right place, but I've researched this and can't find the procedure...

Your termination letter determines the helper's next visa, so you should say why you're terminating her contract. It's up to you how you word it as that may affect prospective employers' impression of her (and yes, she gets the same copy that you send to Immigration so there's no arguing about it later)so it really depends on whether you think she deserves another job.


In the letter you should have her full name, HKID #, contract # and the dates she worked for you. That's followed by your announcing that you're now terminating the contract because ...........

You may or may not want to write a few brief sentences about her characteristics, work habits, etc. for the benefit of future employers.

At the end of the letter you should state clearly all the amounts of money you're paying her, listing all the different items eg. one month's pay (on top of notice), one-way flight home, allowances, etc....

Don't forget to ask your helper to sign it to confirm that she's read it and accepted the money paid to her.

Hope you have better luck with your next helper.

blcw,

Thank you so much! That is a huge help. How do you know all this?! I will think carefully about what to say in the letter.

Hello,

I'm also in the process of terminating my helper.

Here is a very useful link that someone gave me on this forum :

http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/wcp/FDHguide.pdf

It gives you all the information that you need.

Moreover, you can go to the immigration tower where there are inquiries desks. I've been there yesterday and they were very helpful and kind.

Good luck !

You're welcome, Amyvalentine. I've had some really bad runs with domestic helpers over the years and it's my biggest whinge about living in HK - not the pollution. Can't live without them, but can't 'live' with them either!!! I've more or less tried every legal method available in HK when looking for replacement helpers and have screamed at several folks at different consulates, so have basically been there, done that. Terminating helpers? Well, they probably call me the "Terminator" !! (okay, it's not that gruesome - I've only terminated 3) so I've picked up a lot of folk wisdom along the way, mainly how to protect myself and my family. Read too many nasty reports about helpers making up stories to spite their employers, so am not opening myself up to that sort of abuse.


I read with envy and incredulity at some of the references provided for helpers on Asiaxpat Domestic Help channel - how did they luck out with such fantastic helpers????? Do such helpers really exist??? I must've rung at least 200 of them (those with good references) and can't get them to come for interviews. Their tone immediately changed when I mentioned where we live (Tuen Mun), but that's not the worst. It's amazing how quickly it becomes "Oh, I'll call you after I go to Immigration tomorrow...." (but if course, the call never comes) when I mention that my mum lives with us (which is not exactly true, but she does come 2 or 3 times a year and stays for 1 - 2 months each time).


Anyway, enough of my gripe - just needed to vent my frustrations. Can't wait to be back in Australia soon, where things are not so crazy.

Well blcwc

I m also so called a terminator as well. I (we) terminated 3 over the past 2 years. You are right that if you are working, you cant live without a helper but yet it is difficult to live with them. The ideal is to have them living elsewhere but ID had made it illegal so what can you do. But I m sure there are some other crazy things in Australia, arent there?!

(Mighty),

You bet! Like poisonous snakes, poisonous spiders, poisonous ants, the list goes on....... I've lived in that wonderful sunburnt country almost all my life and never had a problem, then along comes hubby and within 2 months of him arriving in Australia he got bitten by a redback, then stung by a wasp, and developed hayfever allergies!

We bought a modest family sized house with a huge backyard in Oz a few months ago, in anticipation of our return there with 2 young ones, now I can't stop worrying about them getting attacked by killer snakes, killer spiders, killer mosquitoes, killer bees, and so on ;P

Thank you again blcw, and thank you Ladyfrog.

You have been an immense help to me.