General

Payment and Deduction of Wages

Return Air-ticket and Traveling Allowance

• Who should I approach for enquiries regarding the employment contract or the Employment Ordinance?

• You should pay your Helper the daily food and traveling allowance for her journey to Hong Kong and reimburse her the cost of preparing all necessary documents. See Section III.
• You are advised to explain to your Helper the duties you expect her to perform. Such duties must be domestic duties. See Section VII.
• You should appoint rest days for your Helper. If it is a fixed day in a week, you only need to inform her once. If it is a floating rest day, you should inform her before the commencement of each month.
• You should fix a date on which you will pay wages to your Helper. See Section II.
• You should take out employees?compensation insurance against your liabilities for your Helper’s injuries at work. This is requirement under the Employees? Compensation Ordinance. Failure to do so is an offence in law, punishable by a fine and imprisonment.

• You should produce all relevant receipts for expenses connected with preparation of documents to facilitate reimbursement by your Employer.
• You are advised to ask your Employer to explain your duties. See Section VII.

• You are advised to pay wages by cheque or by autopayment into your Helper’s bank account. To do this, you have to obtain your Helper’s consent before hand. If your Helper does not prefer such methods of payment, you should pay her wages in legal tender.
• You are required to keep records of wage payments. You are also advised to obtain receipts from your Helper for such payments and keep the relevant bank statements. A sample wage receipt is suggested at Appendix I.

• You should pay wages to your Helper not less than once every month. For example, if she commences employment on the fifth day of a month, you should pay her as soon as possible on the fifth day of the following month, and in no case later than 7 days after that day. It is an offence in law to delay the payment wilfully and without reasonable excuse.
• If you wish to change the date of payment, you should give prior notice to your Helper and clear the outstanding wages on the new payment date you have specified. For example, your Helper commenced employment on the fifth day of a month and is paid on that date every month. If you intend to change the payment date to the fifteenth day in the next month, you should clear the balance of the ten days?wages (i.e. from 6th to 15th) within 7 days after the fifteenth day of this month before you pay her on the new payment date next month.

• Under the employment contract, you are responsible for expenses incurred on your Helper in preparation of documents for taking up employment with you. Normally she would have paid such expenses and you should reimburse her, preferably through the bank, as soon as possible when she produces the receipts. You are advised to ask her to acknowledge your reimbursement in writing and keep the receipts for proof of payment. A sample receipt of reimbursement of expenses to Filipino domestic helpers is suggested at Appendix II.
• Taking the case of the Philippines as an example, you may be asked to pay the following:
  • Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) fee (collected by the Philippine Government for processing the exit permit and compulsory attendance of a briefing session for the Helper prior to departure)
  • Mandatory insurance
  • Medical examination fee
  • Notarization fee (charged by the Philippines Consulate in Hong Kong
  • Visa extension fee (charged by the Hong Kong Immigration Department)

For the Employer

• You should clear all outstanding wages and other sums due to your Helper, preferably by payment through the bank, and obtain a receipt for all payments.
• You are required to notify the Director of Immigration in writing of the termination within seven days of the date of termination. It is not necessary to inform the Labour Department.

For the Helper

• You should settle all accounts with your Employer and ensure that all sums are paid to you before you sign any receipt.
• You are required to notify the Director of Immigration in writing of the termination within seven days of the date of termination. It is not necessary to inform the Labour Department.

What should I do if my Employer dismisses me without giving notice or payment in lieu?

• You should notify the Director of Immigration if you consider that the contract has been unilaterally terminated by the other party. For the Employer, you may also wish to report the case of missing helper to the Police.
• If you consider that the other party is not entitled to terminate the contract without notice and you wish to claim wages in lieu of notice, you should approach the appropriate branch office of the Labour Relations Service of the Labour Department without delay. This Service will help you settle your claim by conciliation.
• You may of course waive the requirement of proper notice from the other party.

• Termination of employment without notice is usually preceded by disagreement between the Employer and the Helper. In the midst of heated arguments, things may be blown out of proportions and either party may there and then believe that it is justified for him to terminate the contract or to consider that it has been terminated. This often turns out to be ill-conceived. As independent witnesses are not usually available in a domestic environment, it will be difficult to re-construct the circumstances leading to the dispute and decide whether the action taken is justified.
• The best way to solve problems arising from employment is for the parties to talk things out. Try to be considerate and tolerant with each other in sorting out your differences. Most problems can be resolved without resorting to drastic actions.
• The law only allows termination of employment without notice in very special circumstances. If you really have to do so, you should make sure that you have sufficient evidence to back up your case. Otherwise you will likely face a claim from the other party.

• Under the Employment Ordinance, you are required to provide your Helper with the following leave:
  • rest days;
  • statutory holidays; and
  • paid annual leave.
• Please refer to the Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance for details.
• You are required to keep records of the statutory holidays and annual leave taken. Your are also advised to keep the wage receipts to prove payment.

• No. You may ask your Helper to work on a statutory holiday only if
  • you have given her not less than 48 hours?notice; and
  • you will give her another holiday within 60 days.
• Whether statutory holidays have actually been taken and paid is a common cause of dispute between the Employer and the Helper after their employment contract has been terminated. You should ensure that holiday and payment records are kept properly to avoid future disputes.

• Your Helper is also entitled to the following benefits under the Employment Ordinance:
  • sickness allowance;
  • maternity leave;
  • severance payment; and
  • long service payment.
• Please refer to the Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance for details.

• You may consider installing security check against unauthorized use of your IDD.
• You may make prior agreement in writing with your Helper concerning reimbursement of the expenses incurred.