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| Rosete's employer was a no-show at the Labour Tribunal |
By Vir B. Lumicao
A domestic worker has been awarded her full claim of about $9,000
against her employer, but her chances of collecting the money are in doubt as the
employer never appeared in the Labour Tribunal and could not be contacted.
The helper, Vilma V. Rosete, 48, filed her claim against
Wong Kwok-chung after she was terminated on Nov 26 by the employer’s wife
without giving her one month’s notice and not a cent
Tribunal Presiding Officer Eric Tam awarded to Rosete on Jan
10 one month’s wage of $5,000 in lieu of notice, arrears in wages for one week,
payment for two unused days off, and $2,700 for a one-way air ticket back to
the Philippines.
Tam, however, excluded a severance pay of $14,274 being
claimed by Rosete.
With her award certificate from the Tribunal, Rosete can go
to the District Court to ask the court bailiff to enforce the judgment.
However, this will involve her paying the bailiff a few thousands of dollars,
which she does not have.
In the first hearing on Dec 10, Wong snubbed the court
notice sent by the Tribunal to the defendant’s address in Kwai Shing Estate, Tai
Wo Hau, Tsuen Wan.
Neither did the employer respond to calls made by Labour
Department staff to Wong or his wife to discuss the dispute with them, Rosete
said.
Even before the case went to the Tribunal, the employer had
refused to pay the helper all the money due her, Rosete said.
The Filipina told the SUN she had put up with the excesses
of the employer’s wife, who allegedly assaulted her each time she was drunk
during the four years and three months that she served the family.
Rosete said the police is investigating her assault
complaint.
The maid was hired locally in August 2014 by Wong, who stated
in the employment contract she had to serve the couple and their two children.
But Rosete found out Wong had three children at the time. In 2017, the wife
gave birth to a fourth child.
Rosete said she had no problem with Wong, who signed her
employment contract, but it was his wife who allegedly made her life miserable.
The said the wife, who stayed at home, attacked her each
time she was drunk and they had an argument. She would show Wong the bruises on
her arms that the assaults left, but the employer could not stop his wife from
hurting the maid.
Rosete said she went to see a doctor for medical records of
injuries after recent assaults, but the female employer allegedly confiscated
the records.
When asked why she did not report to the police, Rosete said
she never did so out of pity for the children, who were endeared to her.
On Nov 26, she had another argument with the employer’s wife,
who ordered her to leave. She called up IPT, the agency that placed her with
the Wongs, and the agent told her to go to his office at 4pm so they could
talk.
But the employer’s wife insisted that she pack up and go.
Rosete said she left the flat at 1:30pm and was given shelter by the agency.
She said the agency owner also reported the assaults to the police and that investigations
were under way.
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