2014-02-25        Hong Kong's domestic helpers - a new website

A new website has just been launched to support Hong Kong's 300,000 domestic workers: www.hkhelperscampaign.com.  The site is professionally done, user friendly and has lots of information about the situation of domestic workers in Hong Kong.

The site has three basic aims: 1 - to scrap the two-week rule; 2 - to enforce the law about maximum working hours; 3 - to stop illegal agency fees.  Number 3 has received a lot of media attention recently because of the case of the Indonesian domestic worker who was tortured by her employer.

The site quotes Amnesty International as saying that many of Hong Kong's domestic helpers are working in conditions of "slavery", while the US company Bloomberg describes their conditions as "indentured servitude"

I have visited many Chinese homes that have a domestic helper. In nearly every case the helper has been treated extremely well, often regarded as another member of the family.
May the new website help all domestic helpers in Hong Kong enjoy a happy and win-win relationship with their employers.