Helper Pay Advance?

Our helper of less than 6 months is going on a pre-negotiated, two-week home leave in a few weeks and asked today for a four month salary advance. We consider her honest and very hard-working, in fact we have no complaints at all about her, but my instinct is that this is excessive. I asked her what it was for and was told it's one childs tuition, another's airfare, and a third child's moving expenses. All legitimate based on what I know of her so far but still...I would love some advice from more seasoned employers on how to handle this situation?

I don’t wish to make any judgement on the integrity of your helper, however 4 months salary is quite an ask.


Firstly are you sure that she will return to HK, secondly there are laws about the amount of money you can reclaim from your helper, it could take up to 16 months to have the loan repaid.


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

Does she need to spend 4 months pay at one time? That is a lot of money. School in the Philippines start in June not May. Maybe you can give her the loan after she comes back? She can just remit when the money is needed.


Make sure you have a clear repayment plan in place if you do lend her the money. Ask her if she can survive on what her monthly salary will be once you deduct part of it to pay back the advance.


You know your helper the best, but if someone has just worked for me for 6 months, i don't think I'll feel comfortable advancing her 4 months pay either. Good luck with your decision.

I don't think it's a good idea, we all have to manage on the money we earn but if an employer was to lend such money then it makes the following month even harder. There will never be an end to things she needs/wants to pay for but she will then have less money in her pocket to do so.

We made it clear in our 'guidelines' that we would never give advances or loans... It is a slippery slope...



The YWCA offers a course on managing money for helpers, it might be something that would benefit her?

We have always told our helpers that we would prefer they came to us with money issues rather than go to a loan shark.


Over the years we have helped out but would not usually lend more than one months salary. I would certainly have an issue with a helper of only 6 months asking for 4 months up front.


If I were in your shoes I'd say no - none of these payments sound out of the blue - just a helper living above her means.

A four month advance after only working six months does seem excessive. I might be a bit concerned that she may not come back. However, she is your helper, so you know how much trust you have.


Many different thoughts from people regarding loans to our helpers. We always give loans when asked, rarely more than a month or two salary, and try to never ask what the loan is for. Our reasoning:


Sure, we don't ask our employers for a pay advance, but we have access to credit cards, bank loans, overdraft, savings etc. Our helpers only choice is a loan shark, pawn shop, or employer. I don't want a loan shark showing up on my doorstep, especially as my helper cares for my children. I also don't want her pawning her wedding ring (or whatever valuables she may have) a few times a year and paying exorbitant interest.


I don't want to know what the loan is to be used for due to a couple of reasons. This may sound heartless, but what if the loan is for medical tests for a relative, and you now feel obligated to ask how the test went. You are then put in a situation of perhaps feeling obligated to assist should further medical procedures be required.


Asking what the loan is for may result in a less tha truthful answer. Trust is important, so why take the chance on having our helper tell us what she considers is a "white lie" on what the loan is for, only to have you find out later that it was not truth, and now feel you can no longer trust her.


Also consider the payback period of all loans. Our helpers have to be able to survive during the repayment period. Although they may say take half this pay and half next pay, we instead work out a repayment plan that allows them to repay a smaller portion over an extended period. No further loans until the first is paid off.


We also of course document the loan, and have our helper sign each pay day for her pay minus the amount of loan repayment, all very clearly itemized.


Works for us.

why not make a compromise? tell her you can't give her 4 month advance but maybe one or two month, it's still better than nothing. tell her take it or leave it. i'm sure she will take it although it's still a risk that she might not come back.

one month advance pay only