Posted by
hkexpat11
13 yrs ago
We hoping to hire a driver and are new to all this. Would be very grateful for advice on how much a driver's salary should be? I understand there is a difference between local drivers and those on FDH contracts?
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Hiring a driver with residency ("local driver") is just like hiring any other resident. No restrictions on driving duties.
An FDH can be "with driving duties" if you arrange for the driving duties addendum to the contract and have it approved by Immigration. FDH drivers may drive the kids to/from school and do stuff that is "domestic", such as errands and driving you to shops. They may never drive the employer(s) to/from work. As with any other FDH, the driver must live in your residence. BTW many have their FDH take a driving license. No need for the driver to be another person.
A typical FDH with driving duties will make 8-12k/month. However you can get one a bit cheaper if he/she is already your DH, or if he is married to your current DH. For example we have a married couple as DH, and one is a driver. Obviously they want to be together and they save money by living together.
If you are paying 30k/month you are being ripped off big time. I would guess a local driver is more along the lines of 10-15k.
Note also that a local driver can have many jobs and might be with you only a few hours a day. An FDH is only "yours" and may not drive other people. So the math may be different.
"a FDH can ONLY drive incidentally to their main job (keeping house and being a FDH). they are NOT allowed to drive you to work and pick you up, but they ARE allowed to drive kids to school. they are allowed to drive to the supermarket etc when assisting you with errands."
Not quite. They must have the "driving duties" addendum to the contract approved by immigration in order to drive you and the kids around.
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Thanks so much for the info. We've interviewed a few fdh drivers who are asking 12-15k, and who all want to live out, which I'm not comfortable with if it's illegal. My current helper is not married so unfortunately can't go down the married couple route. This is much more difficult than I thought it would be!
If we find a local driver, is there some kind of standard contract that is used?
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hkexpat11, I think the FDH driver who you have interviewed are trying to pull a quick one on you probably as they think you are new to this. I agree with axpatguy with regard to the monthly salary.
Every FDH driver my friends have had, and these are very experienced, received 11K per month which included live out costs/meals allowance, meaning the base rate is around 8K per month plus, 2.25K boarding costs, 0.75K meals allowance. This is a standard rate when you go to agencies find FDH drivers. In my case, my FDH driver lives in so only receives the base rate. One girlfriend sent her maid along for lessons and now pays her 6,750 per month but she has been driving for only 2 years, lives in and doesn't know the roads well at all (and isn't a very good driver because the employer has to be in the car to tell her how to get to every destination with the exception of the child's school, home and the ifc!)
If my FDH driver wanted more, I would hire a local driver as then I wouldn't need to worry about flights home, the arduous contract process, the fact that they can't be held responsible for damage to your car ect. In fact before we signed our current driver up we had a local driver offer to drive for us at 10K per month (5 days a week only) but this did not fit in with our needs ( needed 6 days a week with some flexibility). Our previous experienced local driver was paid 13.5K per month for 6 days a week 8-9pm, he was fabulous but he left out employ sadly due to personal illness.
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I agree with lagrue.
for 12-15K for sure you could hire local. A friend of mine hires a local driver who works from moonday to friday and half day on sunday. I believe his salary is $13K. With a local, you don't hae to worry about living arrangements and I'd assume that they know the roads better as oppose to someone who's new to HK
good luck!!
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I think the "know the roads" thing is a bit overrated. A good driver can learn the important routes very quickly. Give him the "Hong Kong Driving Guide" (map book) and send him out with the car for a day or two to explore. That's what we did.
"yes, but even with the addendum, they are only allowed to drive incidentally to their domestic work.. ie: they canNOT drive you to and from work ever..."
I am doing renewal for our helper. I checked the verbiage and it says they can never drive (without the addendum). Don't know if this has changed.
"If we find a local driver, is there some kind of standard contract that is used?"
AFAIK there is no need for a contract for a local driver. Of course drawing one up is probably a good idea. Don't know about standard ones.
I guess you have to do some sort of reporting for taxes.
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Thanks so much everyone, that gives me a much better idea of what to do. My helper is has only been with us for a couple of months and I'm expecting relatively soon so I don't really think I can ask her to take a driving test right now.
Can I just ask those who have had local drivers - was finding someone who could speak some English a problem? (Unfortunately I don't speak Chinese)
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hkexpat, my great driver who left due to illness spoke good enough english to drive me around (my husband speaks cantonese though) and one guy we interviewed spoke very good english but he was a bit old for the job (58 or so)!
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fsjan
13 yrs ago
i am a local chinese. i don't need an english speaking driver but i still have problems with finding the right one to be our family driver. i have had 7 drivers in 3 years. first one , a very responsible middle-aged man, but not safe in driving. second one a good young man of 38 but some health issues. third one, drived badly and talked too much , very much a nuisance. fourth one superb driving skill but couldnt pass medical test. fifth one bad attitude. sixth one , a really professional one but stayed only two weeks coz looking for higher pay. seventh one, also the present one has stayed with us the longest, 6 months. good attitude and average driving skill but poor sense of direction, often losing way or not using the most efficient route to destination. five and a half days a week. salary is 12 k plus plus OT. also double pay at year end and MPF. offer not bad, right? still not able to get one to my satisfaction. or simply no luck of me?
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I don't really understand why 58 would be too old to be a driver. Depends on the person. Plenty are very spry at that age.
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lagrue - that's pretty much our situation - husband speaks cantonese so i need someone with just enough english to understand 'please take me from A to B at this time / please pick me up at x place'.
fsjan - what medical test do you make your drivers take?
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I would make an FDH driver take the same medical tests as most FDH are made to do. Screen for diseases, general health check, pregnancy test if female.
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