Posted by
isonoawabi
17 yrs ago
Our helper has confessed to stealing money from hubby's drawer. She said it was to repay a loan to a finance company, that the repayment was overdue and the blokes were threatening to come to our place and she didn't want me to find out and be upset. Of course, it was stupid of her to have done that. She wrote me a note explaining exactly how much she had taken, how the money was spent, etc. She returned part of the money that was left after she had repaid the loan and had also paid back to me part of the stolen sum from the salary that I had paid her just now. For the sake of her two young children who need her support, I decided not to call the police, but I am very worried about keeping her. She had told me she had another debt that was not yet repaid and her passport and contract were pledged with that lender. I am afraid of someone knocking on my door or her doing something stupid like harming herself or harming my kid. I am a full time working mum and hubby travels a lot. If I were to terminate her, I need someone right away to look after our young child. Both my husband and myself are expats. Neither of us have family or relatives here to help out and we do not want to hire illegal part-time helpers. Where and how can we find a legitimate part time helper at least for a month or two while we find a replacement and await visa approval? How much do we have to pay for the part-time? Is it by the hour or do we pay a monthly salary?
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aemom
17 yrs ago
We were in a similar situation last spring with both of us working (my husband in China) and two small kids to look after.
Here's what we did: we did not tell our helper that we are going to replace her. From outside our home, we contacted FDHs who had completed their contracts and didn't want/need to return to their home country (a terminated helper must go home). We did longer phone interviews and then met good prospects in MTR stations and coffee shops (away from our home). In the meantime, we prepared the money, ticket and receipts for the outgoing helper.
The hiring process was started with the new helper. She was willing to live with us before her contract started (which is OK with IMD). That morning, I took the kids out and my husband fired the thief and told her to pack and go that day. As suggested in previous threads here, he had purchased several red-white-blue bags to pack her stuff, which she needed as, in addition to stealing thousands of dollars worth of food from us, she had been doing laundry for many other people (which tripled our gas bill as she did everything in very hot water against our instructions).
The whole process from deciding to fire her to the day she left took about 7 - 8 days.
It's a horrible time, but the problem can be solved.
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I have to agree with aemom here.
And as a helper I am somewhat ashamed to hear/know stories about thieving helpers. Goodluck, and may you find a trust-worthy one.
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The only thing I would check first is that the lender is not keeping hold of her passport, which is illegal in HK. There could be repercussions if she is unable to leave HK because she has no passport. If you are aware of that immigration may want to talk to you about it.
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Thank you all for helping. Her passport is being held by another lender. I am prepared to give her a month's salary as payment in lieu of notice to help her redeem her passport so that she can leave. Sorry, evildeeds, immigration may want to talk to me? Is it my responsibility to help her get back her passport? Honestly, I don't want to deal with those "lenders" out there.
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I may be wrong but I don't think the Immigration would want to be involve. The Philippine consulate may, but that is between them and the helper, not you.
The only thing that could turn into a cold turkey here is that going home means she could no longer pay for her debt to a finance company. Collectors will start calling her references/guarantor and will even bug you or your next helper about it, assuming that you may be covering for her and that the new helper is just pretending to be someone else.
I have been cussed at over the phone for someone's late payment although I was not a reference or anything, they just will not listen/believe when I told him that he was looking for my co-worker. Yes, I mas mad being shouted at and cussed, I asked for the company where the loan was made and spoke to their manager. And told them that I was prepared to bail her out and lend her money to pay them but because of what they did they could chase her to the moon and the next time the harrass me or anyone in the house, they have to deal with the authorities as well.
May I suggest that you ask for the finance company and send them ( address to the payment/collector dept/manager a copy of the termination letter so they would know that the person who owes them no longer lives in your home.
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No it is not your responsibility to help her get back her passport, but if she is unable to leave HK within 14 days because she has no passport then there will be issues with immigration and they may well want to know why you terminated a helper knowing she was not able to leave HK.
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Goodness gracious! Do they do that?! So an employer will be stuck between a rock and a hard place!
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SouffleQueen, helper said the lender who was holding her passport had a name (a Christian name, not even a family name) and a mobile phone number only. Where on earth am I going to find this invisible lender? This lender knows not only our address but also our home number. If I give our helper the money and she doesn't pay the lender, I'll still be in trouble. What can I do in the circumstances?
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To be honest the police do need to be involved. Not in regard to your helper stealing but the fact that a money lender has her passport which is illegal in HK. If these people are not reported then they just keep on doing the same thing all the time.
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The employer is not responsible to take care of any of the DHs passport/loans problems. All you are responsible for is notifying IMD with your termination date and complying with the law, ie salary, air fare, holdiay due etc. The DH has the legal right to stay 14 days beyond her termination date before she must leave HK. Her money lender problems are hers, you need to only deal with the DH under the terms of your contract and her money problems are outside of that. Good luck and don't worry. She probably already knows she will be let go anyway....
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I'm sorry to hear about the tough situation but I may be able to advise on the no passport issue. What's to stop your DH going to her Embassy and telling them she lost her passport? She could say it dropped out of her handbag or something....who whould know any better? She could get her replacement passport pretty quickly I'm sure and the old one could be reported to the police as stolen or missing and become void therefor making it worth nothing to the loan sharks.
After that, what you chose to do in regards to termination or whatever is up to you.
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tmk
17 yrs ago
adele78,
Normally a police report on the stolen passport is required by a Consulate. Not sure if I'd be advising anyone to file a false police report.
tmk
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Agree with tmk - definitely don't want to be involved in counselling a false statement. She will have to sort out the problem herself. Can't imagine why her consulate shouldn't issue her a passport to enable her to go home even if she has wrongfully handed over her passport to someone else.
Aemon, wonder if you summarily dismissed the helper or if you gave one month pay in lieu. Even though I am going to give one month extra, I want to state expressly that it is ex gratia. Does anybody know whether there may be any problem with this - the making it ex gratia bit? I'm entitled to not give notice. I do not condone dishonesty and want to be very clear about it with her.
Quick rundown of what I need to give her:
one-way open date ticket to home country
pro-rata salary to and including the date of termination
one month pay in lieu of notice
annual leave pay
one day overseas food and transport allowance
Do I need to pay anthing else?
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aemom
17 yrs ago
Yes, we paid the one-month salary in lieu of notice. We did not want to give her any reason to take us to court or make a complaint through the Labour Department.
Also, in the release/termination letter, we did not state the reason for termination (as this information is not a requirement).
Your list looks good. Make sure you have her sign a receipt for everything.
And don't forget the red-white-and-blue bags!
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