The SUN HK : ‘Job hopping’ figure drops more than 3x

Filipina domestic workers mostly spend their Sunday off meeting up with friends

The number of foreign domestic helper visa applications that were rejected last year due to suspected “job hopping” dropped to less than a third of the figure recorded in 2022, latest statistics from the Immigrant Department show.

From a high 1,760 in 2022 the number dropped to just 502 last year, prompting the question of whether the proposal to legislate against the practice should push through.

On May 14 last year, the government ended a public consultation on the Labour Department’s proposal to curtail alleged “job-hopping” by FDWs who terminate their employment contract to seek higher pay and better working conditions.

Buksan ang mga tip

Labour’s proposal was to revise the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies (CoP) to insert a section on “combatting job-hopping” by FDWs, a move that was roundly criticized by the city’s nearly 400,000 migrant domestic workers as well as their supporters in academe, legal profession and concern groups.

According to Thomas Chan, chairperson of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies which was among those who openly rejected the plan, there has been no news on it since the consultation period ended.

“Up to this moment, (there has been) no news from the HK Labour Department about the amendment to the CoP,” said Chan.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The move to issue a legal prohibition on the alleged practice of some FDWs to change their employers at whim was first proposed by some pro-Beijing legislators who said that employers who paid a high price to get their helpers into Hong Kong were being taken advantage of.

One of them, Priscilla Leung from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) suggested setting up a mechanism whereby employers could monitor whether their former FDW had actually returned to her place of origin after termination.

Leung also suggested amending the law to allow employers to demand reimbursements from employment agencies if the FDW they hired left without completing the two-year contract.

TAWAG NA!

DAB chair Starry Lee also hit out at the recruiters, claiming that at the height of the pandemic when FDWs were in short supply they were paying financial incentives of between $1,000 and $2,000 to helpers who would leave their employers and take up their job offers.

But FDW support groups like the Mission for Migrant Workers had hit back at the proposal, saying the concept of “job hopping” was a myth perpetuated by employers who wanted to punish helpers who leave them, even for justifiable reasons.

PINDUTIN ITO

The Mission said that FDWs spend a lot of money just to be able to work in Hong Kong, and are oftentimes in debt even before they start working, so it would be foolish to suggest they would risk losing their jobs in search of better employment.

The support groups said criminalizing the alleged practice will make the plight of migrant worse as they might try to hold on to their jobs even if they are abused or exploited by their employers.