By Daisy CL Mandap
 |
| The proper way to clean windows, according to Labour Dept |
A requirement for adult supervision while domestic workers
are cleaning windows has been dropped
from a provision that will be included in their standard employment contracts from
next year.
But the provision will still require windows to be installed
with grills that must be locked during the cleaning process, unless they are on
the ground floor or can be reached safely from a ledge or balcony.
It will also still provide that no body part of the helper,
except for the arm, should be extended outside of the locked grills while
cleaning the outside part of windows.
The amended provision was made public by the Labour
Department today, Nov. 14, after a series of consultations with concerned
parties.
According to Thomas Chan, an employment agency
representative whose group recently met with labour officials on the proposed
amendment, the requirement for adult supervision was opposed by most employers
who reportedly found it untenable.
The employers reportedly insisted that it would be difficult
for them to meet this requirement, given that most of them are away at work for nearly the
whole day.
Had they gotten their way, the window cleaning ban would not
have even received support from the Labour Department.
A militant employers group had earlier tried Hong Kong
labour officials to overrule a window cleaning ban unilaterally imposed by Labor
Attache Jalilo de la Torre, which was supposed to take effect last Oct. 15.
Labatt de la Torre had ordered that all employment contracts
to be submitted to his office from that day should have a stamped notification
that the helper would not be allowed to clean windows from the outside.
Days before it was to take effect, the employers’ group called
on the government to instead stop the practice of allowing the Philippine
Overseas Labor Office to vet all contracts for hiring Filipino helpers before
they are passed on Immigration.
But the move backfired, when Labor not only sided with
POLO’s move but also expanded the safety provision by requiring all windows above
ground to be fixed with locked grills, and initially mandating adult
supervision throughout the cleaning process.
Labour only asked that the implementation be put off to Jan
1 next year, so it could consult with all stakeholders.
The safety provision will cover all foreign domestic
workers, not just those from the Philippines .
On Oct 27 Labour Secretary Matthew Cheung met with the
consuls general of countries sending domestic workers to Hong
Kong and explained the safey provision to them.
All sides reached consensus to include the
safety clause in employment contracts from next year.
