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| Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun (source: Dotdot News) |
The Hong Kong government does not intend to amend laws or policies regarding foreign domestic helpers, particularly on imposing a trial or probation period, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun told the Legislative Council today.
Secretary Sun was answering a question by Legislator Tommy
Chung regarding the lack of flexibility in the existing Standard Employment
Contract (SEC) and supporting policies, which he said causes problems for employers of FDHs.
Sun said, “The Government attaches great importance to the reasonable rights and interests of both foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) and employers, and is committed to balancing the concerns and interests of both parties, while maintaining Hong Kong as an attractive work destination for a sufficient number of FDHs, so as to meet the community's increasing domestic care needs."
Chung had asked whether the government will study
introducing a statutory probation period (two to three months) in FDH employment
contracts, during which employers will provide free transportation but
FDHs will pay for their airfares in proportion to their length of service,
and agency fees for re-hiring will be limited.
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Sun replied that under present rules, employers may terminate
contracts in accordance with the Employment Ordinance and the terms of the Standard
Employment Contract (SEC). “The Government considers that there is no need to
introduce into the SEC an additional provision prescribing a probationary
period,” he said.
Chung also asked whether it will formulate, in collaboration
with the Equal Opportunities Commission, guidelines on contract termination where
FDHs are unable to perform duties due to serious illness or other reasons.
But Sun said that under the Disability Discrimination
Ordinance, it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against or dismiss an
employee on the ground of disability.
“Nevertheless,” he added, “an exception may apply if the
employer can present objective evidence to prove that the employee concerned is
unable to perform the inherent requirements of the job due to the employee's
disability.”
Finally, Chung asked whether government will amend the
legislation to stipulate that FDHs who are dismissed upon conviction for
criminal offences will immediately forfeit their eligibility to any statutory
compensation, payment in lieu of notice and passage allowance, while the
Immigration Department will also prohibit them from coming to Hong Kong to work
again.
Sun said that is already allowed under current laws.
For example, if an FDH is guilty of fraud or dishonesty, where
he/she is convicted by the court of stealing property from the employer's home,
“the EO currently already provides that the employer may summarily dismiss the
FDH without notice or payment in lieu of notice,” he said.
However, he added that the employer is still required to
provide the FDH with return passage to his/her place of origin. “This
arrangement is one of the necessary conditions for allowing employers to
recruit domestic helpers from overseas to work in Hong Kong, and is intended to
ensure that FDHs who come to Hong Kong will not be left stranded in Hong Kong
due to a lack of means for travel,” he said.
If an FDH has any adverse record or has committed any
breach, the Immigration Department will normally refuse his/her application, he
added.
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