LEGAL ADVICE AND RIGHTS
Hong Kong standard contract for helpers
All employers and foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong use the same contract provided by the government. Each contract is for two years.
You can find the contract here and you can click here for more information about your contract.
What happens if you fall sick
You don't need to work if you fall sick. In your first year of employment with your employer, you can get 2 days of paid sick leave a month. After the first year, you get 4 days of paid sick leave a month.
Your employer must pay for your medical bills. This includes doctor consultation, hospital expenses and emergency dental treatment. Your employer should have taken out insurance to cover these costs.
If you paid for the medical fee, you can ask your employer to pay you back. Remember to keep all the receipts and doctor’s certificate.
Termination of contract
You or your employer can terminate the contract by giving one month’s notice.
What you should do:
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tell the Foreign Domestic Helpers section of the Immigration Department about the termination within seven days. If your employer didn't give you one month's notice, you should report this to the Immigration Department.
What your employer should pay you:
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all salary owed to you
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long service payment (if you've worked for at least 5 years)
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any annual leave that you did not take
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severance payment (if you've worked for at least 2 years for the employer) and are made redundant (for example because your employer leaves Hong Kong)
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money to cover the flight tickets to return home (if your employer didn't pay for your flight tickets) and daily food and travel allowance of HK$100 per day
Click here and here for more information about contract termination.
Your rights as an employee
Rest days
Your employer must give you at least 1 rest day (24 continuous hours) in every period of 7 days.
You also get statutory holidays every year. Click here for the list of statutory holidays. If a statutory holiday falls on a rest day, your employer should give you a holiday the day after your rest day.
Besides the statutory holidays, Hong Kong has 5 public holidays which are: Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Monday, Buddha’s Birthday and Boxing Day.
Some employers choose to give these days off too but they are not required to under the law.
You also get paid leave every year starting from 7 days every year, and that increases based on how long you work for your employer.
Your employer cannot force you to work during your rest day and holidays or pay you for not resting on a statutory holiday.
Click here for more information about leave and holidays.
Salary
Your employer must pay you in full based on your contract. This should not be less than the minimum wage allowed in Hong Kong when the contract was signed. Your employer should not pay you later than 7 days after the end of the wage period.
Food
Your employer must provide you with either free food or money to buy food while you are employed.
Accommodation
You must work and live in your employer’s place as stated in the contract during the whole employment period. Your employer has to provide free accommodation with reasonable privacy to you. For example, your employer cannot make you sleep in the same room as another adult of the opposite sex.
Travel allowances
Your employer will provide you the air ticket for travelling from your home country to Hong Kong before you start the contract.
When you finish the contract, your employer should also pay for your air ticket back to your home country.
Click here for more information about the travel arrangements your employer needs to provide.
Medical treatment
You will be provided with free medical treatment during your employment in Hong Kong, regardless of whether the sickness arose from/during your work in Hong Kong.
More information
You can go to the Labour Relations Division of the Labour Department to get help to understand your rights or if you have a complaint about your employer or if you have a dispute with your employer. Their website is http://www.labour.gov.hk and you can call them at +852 2717 1771 or +852 2157 9537 (exclusive line for foreign domestic helpers).
The Labour Department also has a website with a full description of your rights here in English, Chinese, Tagalog, Thai, Indonesian, Hindi, Nepali, Urdu, Burmese, Khmer, Bengali, Sinhala. They also have some FAQs here.
HELP for Domestic Workers also has some information to help you understand your rights here.
Immigration issues and visas
Before arriving in Hong Kong:
You must have a visa before you arrive in Hong Kong. You can apply for a visa online through the HK government’s website before you enter Hong Kong.
After arriving in Hong Kong:
If you want to apply to change your employer, you can use this online government service.
You must leave Hong Kong when your contract is completed. If your contract is terminated, you must leave within two weeks after the termination. If you need to extend your stay in Hong Kong, you can use this online government service.
You can also go to the Foreign Domestic Helpers Section at 3/F, Immigration Tower, 7 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, during working hours to submit an application for extension of stay. Their opening hours are:
8:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
9:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. (Saturday)
They are closed on Sundays and public holidays
Insurance
If you want to know more about what your employer should provide, please click here.