By Vir B. Lumicao
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| The worker was confined at Prince of Wales Hospital for 4 nights |
Can an employer
refuse to pay a foreign domestic worker wages for the days that she did not
allow the helper into her house despite the official start of her work visa?
This was the question
a Filipina domestic helper sought to resolve after she was dismissed by her
employer after working for less than a month.
Mary V., 47, is set
to leave on Sunday, Dec 26, after agreeing to settle her claim against her
employer for $9,100, representing her unpaid wages, a month’s salary in lieu of
notice and other payments.
She did not get paid
for the 20 days that she would have worked if her employer did not tell her to
stay out for a few more days before moving into her house in Shatin, apparently
out of fear the worker might have the coronavirus.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Mary came to Hong
Kong on Mar 6 this year to work as a caregiver for a 79-year-old man in Kennedy
Town. But the old man died on Oct 5, so her employment ended prematurely.
She looked for a new
employer and was signed on by a Mrs Wong at My Sweet Home employment agency on
Oct 11. When she got her new work visa on Nov 8, Wong reportedly told her to
wait for 20 days before moving in, so she started work only on Nov 28.
On Dec 9, Wong
reportedly asked the helper to sign an agreement which stated they mutually
agreed to end the contract on Dec 26. Mary said she was surprised and hesitated,
but Wong reportedly said it was just tentative and she would know after
Christmas if the termination was final.
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Their working
relationship was apparently not smooth sailing. Mary complained about having to
wake up before 6 am and work non-stop until past 11 under the watch of CCTV and
Wong’s mother, who lived with them.
On Dec 15, while
waiting at her ward’s kindergarten with the elderly woman, Mary had a severe
headache and breathing difficulty, and couldn’t move her right arm.
An ambulance took her
to Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin, where a series of laboratory examinations showed she had a vein wedged between her two
collar bones, causing the headache and blocking normal blood flow to her right
arm.
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| Press for details |
Upon learning that
Mary was in hospital, Wong reportedly told her she would sign their agreement
and compute what she would pay the helper before Dec 26.
Mary was released on
Dec 19, but Wong told her she could not return to the house and must stay
elsewhere until Dec 26. The employer gave her $700 for her room and board
during that time.
The worker went to
the Labour Relations Division in Taikoo Shing on Thursday to find out if she
could claim wages for the 20 days that she was forced to stay out. But the labour
officer was non-committal and told her to ask Immigration to clarify when her
employment officially took effect, she said.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye |
But when the worker
sought advice from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration office and the Mission
for Migrant Workers, she was told that the official start of her employment was
on Nov. 8 when Immigration released her visa.
At the Immigration on
Friday morning, the officer who attended to Mary reportedly said the visa is an
official document, meaning her starting date of employment should be Nov. 8.
But when she asked
for a written statement so she could claim payment for the 20 days, she was
referred to another window. When she got there, another officer directed her to
a third window. Mary said she lost her
patience and left, as she was already hungry.
She went next to the
employment agency, My Sweet Home, for a scheduled meeting with her employer, to
finalize the payment issue, but the latter did not show up, saying she was busy
at work.
In the end, she just
settled for a $9,100 total payment from the employer. She said this represented
her wages from Nov 28
to Jan 8; a $1,000 addition to her air fare, as a one-way ticket had already
been purchased for her; and $100 for her travel allowance.
Mary told The SUN she
was set to fly home on Dec 26 and get some rest to recover from her ailment
before trying to find a new employer again.
She said OWWA had
already made arrangements for her departure and arrival assistance in Hong Kong
and Manila. She said OWWA also advised her to go to its regional office and
apply for livelihood aid.
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| PADALA NA! |
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| CALL US! |
