Minister calls for kindness towards domestic helpers
Hong Kong’s labour minister has asked employers to be kind to their foreign domestic helpers amid the coronavirus outbreak, having warned negative news reports about their poor treatment could grow into a “diplomatic incident”.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said he had written to the Philippine consulate to reiterate the government’s commitment to safeguarding the rights of domestic helpers and providing them with any necessary help.
Law’s call for compassion in his official blog yesterday followed media reports that some domestic helpers had been fired or kicked out of their employers’ homes after becoming infected with Covid-19.
Several NGOs in February warned that domestic helpers had been forced to sleep on the streets after testing positive, with a recent case involving a Filipino woman being told to self-isolate in her employer’s car while she waited for a negative result.
“These reports will of course trigger the concern and discontent of the compatriots of those foreign domestic helpers. And their countries will naturally need to fulfil the responsibility of safeguarding their nationals’ rights and speak up for them,” Law said.
The labour minister said the matter risked affecting “Hong Kong’s external affairs”.
“In order not to allow the issue to become a diplomatic incident, I wrote to the Philippine consul general in Hong Kong the other day to reiterate the government’s determination to protect the rights of foreign domestic helpers and we would spare no efforts to offer assistance to foreign domestic helpers,” he said.
Eman Villanueva, a spokesman for the Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body, welcomed Law’s pledge and urged authorities to issue guidelines to employers on what to do if their domestic helpers contracted Covid-19.
“I am not saying that Hong Kong’s employers are in general bad guys. Many families simply were not well prepared for the recent Covid surge,” he said, adding that households’ first thoughts could have been to protect themselves.
“We have heard of cases that the employers do not allow helpers to enter their houses, and in some other cases, they simply sack the helpers. That is very inhumane.”
Under the Employment Ordinance, an employer is prohibited from terminating the contract of a worker during his or her paid sick leave, except in cases of summary dismissal due to serious misconduct.
Employers could also risk violating the Disability Discrimination Ordinance if they treat their domestic helpers less favourably as a result of becoming infected with or recovering from Covid-19.
About 330,000 domestic helpers currently work in Hong Kong, with most coming from the Philippines and Indonesia.
The government said on Saturday that it and the local community appreciated the significant contributions made by domestic helpers to support families and the local economy.
“We must empathise with their not being able to visit their families back at home because of the ravaging epidemic,” it said in a statement. It added that authorities were committed to protecting helpers’ employment rights to ensure the city remained an “attractive place” to work.
From social-distancing restrictions and testing to isolation and treatment, the shifting Covid-19 responses by the Hong Kong government have irked many people. Among the debatable measures is the importation of temporary care workers from the mainland. Controversial as it is, the cross-border recruitment is a quick fix amid an urgent manpower crisis in the coronavirus-stricken health care sector.
The severity of the matter is reflected in the speedy transmissions in care homes. About 60 to 80 per cent of care homes for the elderly and disabled have reported cases, with thousands of residents and workers testing positive. The pressure on manpower and operation is obvious.
According to the government, the first batch of the targeted 1,000 imported workers was to arrive last week. They will be deployed to institutions for the elderly, people with disabilities, children at isolation facilities and holding centres, with a monthly salary of up to HK$30,000. The offer seems attractive, especially for those who have been displaced from the Covid-battered economy. But the job also involves a certain degree of risk and hardship.
Questions have been raised whether local jobseekers should be given priority. Applicants apparently only need to be able to communicate in Cantonese, with no other specific skills and work experience required. Officials said they had contacted employment agencies across the border and that there would be basic training for three days before deployment. Given the circumstances, there is no reason why we should not swing open the door for mainland workers while extending the offer to locals at the same time. Earlier, the government invoked emergency regulations to enable mainland doctors and nurses to help combat the epidemic here.
Indeed, the manpower at care homes has been a long-standing issue over the years. The low vaccination rate among the elderly and vulnerable has made the care home sector one of the weakest links in the city’s defence mechanism. The wider issue is our fast-ageing population. By 2038, about one in three people will be aged 65 and above. A long-term solution is needed to ensure those in need will be taken care of.