Posted by
canuckinhk
15 yrs ago
im seeking advice on what i should do about the treatment of the FDHs employed by my future sister in law. im engaged to a local girl and it has recently come to my attention these past few weeks that they are all working more than is legally permitted. regardless of how she treats them, which i have seen first hand is not so good, my question is about their holidays. ive always seen one of them at sunday lunch but not thought anything of it. these last two weeks though, ive talked to the helpers (different ones each week) about it and have learnt that they all (i think she employs five or six) only receive two days off a month. this outrages me, but seems to have little affect on my fiancee and her family members, who dont want to believe the sister is capable of doing something like this. what are my options, keeping in mind i dont really want to cause too much trouble with my future in laws. call the labour department? call a FDH watchdog organization? i doubt my fiancee will confront her sister, but should i press her to do so? anything i havent thought of?
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If the helpers are happy to tell of thier problems to you, then why wouldn't they want to tell the labour department ? They will lose thier jobs thats why! I'm not saying it's right at all, but if you "do something about this" then they will lose thier jobs anyway, and you will make your soon to be family lose face - the ultimate no no! Also, you don't know the whole situation, maybe they asked for more pay and less days off, or get 3 nights a week off to do classes as a trade off...I would keep my mouth shut if I were you, but thats just me.
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tell your fiancee your concerns (i hope you can be that open to your future wife) and then leave it to her to act (or not act), but don't do anything more...
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blood is thicker than water they say.
get both sides of the story and get facts straight.
discuss this with your fiancee and see what her point of view is on the situation.
if you feel strongly against their family practice - then make decisions whether you want to be a part of the family.
if you do report it - they could resent you for it for meddling, and your fiancee could be caught in between. and your relationship with them could go south
actions and consequences - weigh them carefully before making any move.
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clam
15 yrs ago
it's a sad fact that many (particularly Indonesians) thru their 'agencies' accept jobs up front knowing the employment terms are worse than statutory (i.e. less days off, below stat pay, no home leave, passports withheld etc). these ladies accept the terms because they want the job and have paid lots of fees to the agents. many many families ( and from what i hear unfortunately, are usually local families) believe this to be acceptable as a 'commercial arrangement'...
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I was also shocked when hearing that my bro-in-law (husband's brother) had hired an Indonesian DH who apparently offered not to take her weekly holiday for the first 7 months of employment. (I think she offered that to increase her chances of being chosen as my bro-in-law just had a newborn baby. )
Personally I'm of the opinion that not only is it illegal but from a practical standpoint, I wouldn't want someone overworked and without sufficient rest to be looking after my young baby. (I think I mentioned something to that effect to his wife, but of course I didn't feel that it was in my position to "push" the issue.) I see them occasionally on Sundays since they hired her and their DH is off that day so I assume they didn't take her up on the offer.
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you're need to get all the details. Is your sis-in-law paying them extra for working on weekends? I know some FDH prefer to work on their off days to earn extra cash.
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I would just let it be.
The DHs depend on their jobs. If you interfere, you could ruin their future and that of their families. And if your fiance's family find out it was you who told on them, how do you think they would react?
What you can do however is speak to your fiance and tell her you are not comfortable with it and ask her if she could speak to her family. If this doesn't work, maybe you could speak to her sister privately? I would try those first.
Good luck. I feel so sorry for the DHs.
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i am aware that she does indeed pay them for the extra day. not sure how much it is. the issue i have is that they openly tell me that they would rather not take the money and have the day off.
my fiancee and i have talked about it in detail and she is just as outraged at it as me, but she has the same problem. it might be really bad to cause a big riff in the family, when nothing will likely come from our actions.
anyway, thanks all for the advice. it was good to survey others opinions while maintaining anonymity. i think i will just keep my mouth shut this time.
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do remember in traditional chinese culture, when a woman marries, she then would be considered "not part" of her biological family because she becomes a part of her husband's family. knowing one's place in a traditional chinese family heirarchy will help one see the order of things and assist one in the best course of action.
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but what solid and tangible proof?
their word against his?
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If it's true report it , there are many employers who exploit their workers in Hong Kong, in Australia, it doesn't happen because people do not tolerate it.
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"This written on asiaxpat is written proof..........ips confirm this ! Knowledge is admissable in court !"
I assume postings on a web board are considered hearsay.
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Jjoy
15 yrs ago
well... although nothing like this is happening in my family, but i've seen like thousands of similar cases...
Indonisian helpers getting something like 2K per month and 2 day offs or even NON! And that's the only way they can stay in the market with lower education level and stuff... Sad to say so, but it's quite a common act here... Try to ignore things like these or you'll have lots of problems with ur future in laws...
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I say break up with your local girlfriend or just mind your own business. Yeah, these are the same options you had before you wrote this post. Frankly, I don't understand what insight you expect from this board. Assuming you have all your facts in order, does this issue bother you so much that you would risk your engagement?
And if you make a big stink out of this, are you really helping anyone if the helpers lose their jobs and can't find another position?
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Sorry, beerboy, but I think you are mistaken about C being an accessory. No need to worry this poster unnecessarily. Mere knowledge is not enough.
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According to the employment ordinance they can voluntarily work on their rest days:
http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/wcp/FDHLeaflet_Eng.pdf
Rest Days
A foreign domestic helper:
�� should have at least 1 rest day in every period of 7 days; and
�� may work voluntarily on a rest day.
An employer must not compel a helper to work on a rest day
so the issue here is whether these girls are being bullied into working on their rest days or not, many of them are afraid to speak up for themselves, in fact it is not a part of their culture to say when they have a problem. They need someone else to advocate on their behalf. Quite a dilemma. Unfortuneately many of the arguments presented here don't help toward empowering these women, and simply empower exploitive employers.
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