Burma next stop as bosses tell of `fire-us helpers'

Two out of five foreign domestic helpers have deliberately made their employers fire them, according to a survey.

The Liberal Party poll found 40.4percent of 3,153 employers with domestic helpers said their helpers deliberately misbehaved so they could be fired. The poll also found 41 percent said their helpers quit during the contract period.

But 72.7percent welcomed helpers from Burma to provide more choices to employers because the Chinese from that country can speak Putonghua and cook Chinese food.

One employer surveyed claimed a helper had stolen HK$300,000 cash and molested a child.

Another employer said he had to endure a helper taking showers with the door open and coming out only wearing a towel.

An employer, surnamed Wong, said her Indonesian helper had changed after her contract was renewed.

The helper would blame her two-year- old daughter for eating too slowly and at one point was worried that the helper had abused her child.

The helper asked her to fire her so she could go home but Wong asked her to stay.

Wong finally decided to pay the helper HK$20,000 to HK$30,000.

Michael Lee Chun-keung of the Liberal Party said the survey reflects that jumping jobs is common among helpers and causes middle-class families to suffer from severe economic and psychological pressure.

According to the Employment Ordinance, employers have to give one month's notice or make compensation for the same period and send the helper back to his or her country of origin by providing an air ticket.

Helpers are required to leave within 14 days after terminating the contract.

But Lee said the ordinance does not require helpers to return to their home countries within the period, while some agencies will ask the helpers to stay in nearby places, such as Macau, and return to Hong Kong once a new employer has been found.

Lee urged the government to review the Immigration Ordinance, and proposed a testing period during the contract so that employers will need to pay for the air ticket only if they terminate the contract.

Mission For Migrant Workers general manager Cynthia Ca Abdon- Tellez said it is difficult to comment on helpers changing employers.

"But it is an expensive choice because they have to pay a huge amount in agency fees when they find a new employer," she said.

She also urged the government to ease the 14-day requirement.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/10/07/burma-next-stop-as-bosses-tell-of-fire-us-helpers/