By Vir B. Lumicao
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| Participants, lecturers, hosts and other guests pose for a picture after the rights seminar |
A domestic worker has the right to discontinue serving the
husband of a contractual employer if a couple separates and the man lives in a
new address. If the man is the employer, she can also refuse to work for the wife
in the contractual address.
This and other issues concerning employment were discussed
in a “Know Your Rights” seminar held at the Consulate on Jun 2 and attended by
more than 40 domestic workers.
The two-hour seminar was conducted by Help for Domestic
Workers (formerly Helpers for Domestic Helpers) in cooperation with the
Consulate. Consul Paulo Saret, head of the assistance to nationals section,
organized the seminar.
Betty Wagner, Help case manager, said the helper can be put
in a legal quandary when the employing couple breaks up.
She said this in reply to a maid who asked if it was right
for the wife, the contractual employer, to send her to work for her estranged
husband who has moved out of the conjugal dwelling.
“If the plan is for the helper to go and work for the
employer’s husband, the contract has to be terminated and her husband has to
sign a contract with you,” Wagner told the helper.
She said it is illegal for the helper to continue her
contract in the husband’s new abode, or to remain and work for the wife in the
contractual address if she is not her legal employer. Both ways, she has the
right to refuse, Wagner said.
She also said that if the helper can’t explain her position to
the employer, she should consult their group or the Consulate so either entity
can talk or write the employer to explain why such a situation violates the Employment
Ordinance.
Other issues raised by the attendees included long service
award, who pays for a helper’s visa extension, and non-renewal of contract of a
pregnant worker.
A worker who has served one employer for almost seven years
asked if she was entitled to long service pay if she decided not to renew her
contract.
Wagner’s reply was “No.”
She said Hong Kong law does
not compel employers to pay for long service if it is the worker who terminates
or does not renew the work contract. The only exemption to this is when the
worker reaches the retirement age of 65 or is physically unable to work
anymore.
“This makes me sad because no one wants to work until 65.
You want to return home to the Philippines
She also said that though some employers pay long service in
advance, this can be claimed back through the Small Claims Tribunal if the
worker terminates the contract later on.
A helper who is six months pregnant asked whether her employer
should pay for her medical expenses. She said she will finish her contract in
July and was worried because her employer is not renewing their contract and
has already hired a new maid.
The helper said she informed her employer verbally on Apr 25
and personally gave her a medical certificate stating she is pregnant.
Wagner said if the employer’s reason for not renewing the
contract was her pregnancy, the maid should gather evidence because it
constitutes discrimination.
Corporate lawyer Alice Ooi, a pro bono volunteer at Help,
said she will take up the case if the helper feels she is being discriminated
against by her employer due to her pregnancy, and could gather evidence to
support this claim.
Consul Saret thanked Help for holding its first rights
seminar jointly with the Consulate, describing the pieces of advice given by
the non-government organization as “very informative and very practical”.
He said it would be difficult for the workers to assert
their rights if they weren’t aware of them in the first place.
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