Domestic Helper Holiday 2023 Hong Kong
Maral Mende
You are not required to give your domestic helper general holidays (public holidays). You can decide to also give your domestic helper the general holiday off so she can recharge as it may also boost the work morale.
Every employer must grant their domestic helper a rest day for a continuous period of at least 24 hours every 7 days.
Rest days do not have to be regular, i.e. the same day every week, but a domestic helper should be notified the dates of her rest days before the beginning of each month. We advise employers to discuss the arrangements when they pay the wages so that there is one specific monthly moment when issues like these are discussed.
Most employers grant Sundays as the weekly rest days because that is also when they are off work. Domestic helpers usually prefer to be off on Sundays as well, as there are many activities scheduled all over Hong Kong on Sundays. They usually go to church or to the mosque, they gather to have lunch together, they remit money home, they do some shopping. Sunday is a very busy day in Hong Kong Central district for Filipino domestic helpers, and in Causeway Bay district for Indonesian domestic helpers.
A common practice of many employers in Hong Kong is to require their domestic helper to work on a rest day to take care of the family and to pay her more salary for this. It should be noted that this is illegal according to the Labour Department. An employer must not compel an employee to work on a rest day except in the event of a breakdown of machinery or in any other unforeseen emergency.
If you really need your domestic helper to work on her day off, you have to give her a substituted day off either 30 days before or after the original day off. We also remind employers that their helpers should not perform any duties on their rest days such as cooking breakfast before she leaves home or doing the dishes when she comes home. A domestic helper may perform these duties voluntarily, but do discuss this with her to ensure that she really is doing it out of her own will and not because she feels obliged to do it as she is living at the same address.
In special cases, such as major protests and epidemics, domestic helpers may often need to stay at their employer's place during their rest days to avoid getting affected, given that they are not allowed to live out. Please be reminded that in such a situation, you should not ask her to work for you as well for a full 24 hours as she has the right to enjoy her rest period.
The number of annual days that a helper should receive depends on the years she has worked for you. A domestic worker is entitled to a paid annual leave after every 12 months with the same employer. The first 2 years, the number of holidays are 7, after which one more day is added, with the maximum days capped at 14.
To be more clear, the helper is entitled to 7 days on her first year of employment, 7 days on the second one, 8 days on the third one, 9 days on the fourth one, 10 days on the fifth one, and so on until it reaches 14 days.
A helper should take her paid annual leave within the 12 months after they have been granted after consultation with the employer and confirmed by a written notice that is given at least 14 days in advance. Also, workers cannot accept payment in lieu of annual leave, unless the length of the leave is more than 10 days.
If the worker is terminated before she is entitled to take the annual leave but has already worked for 3 months under the contract, the domestic worker is still entitled to the paid annual leave. The only exception, however, is that if the employee is dismissed by summary dismissal, that means dismissal without notice due to serious misconduct.
Check out this infographic for 6 things to note about paid annual leave:
At the end of each contract, the employer must provide 'vacation leave' of at least 7 days on top of the annual leave while the helper waits for her new visa.
The Immigration Department requires domestic helpers to return to their home country before a new visa is issued and the new contract commences. An employer who has filed for an extension of stay with immigration should note that this vacation leave will then have to be provided within 365 days when the domestic helper has to leave Hong Kong due to immigration arrangements.
However, whether this is paid or unpaid vacation leave depends on the terms agreed upon in Clause 13 of the standard employment contract. If employers opted for unpaid vacation leave at the time of signing the contracts, they may decide to give their helper paid leave, but if you opted for paid vacation, you must follow this as stated in the contract and can't change your mind. In case of vacation leave, some employers ask their helpers to take a medical checkup before flying back to Hong Kong.
Domestic helper holidays can be broken down into different categories, and domestic helpers are legally entitled to each type. We designed a calendar to help domestic helpers and employers keep track of statutory holidays, rest days, sick leaves, and annual leaves.
A: Yes, domestic helpers are entitled to statutory holidays regardless of their work duration. Employers must give domestic helpers the day off even if they have been working for less than 3 months. However, legally employers are not required to pay salary for the holiday until after the first 3 months of service.
A: When a statutory holiday falls on a rest day (usually a Sunday), the next (non-holiday) day is designated as the statutory holiday instead. Domestic helpers are also still entitled to the rest day as usual.
In the first year of working for you, you are legally required to give a domestic helper seven days of paid leave. However, the longer they work for you the more paid days off you are required to give.
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In Hong Kong, foreign domestic helpers are entitled to only a few public holidays, not just like any other employees. According to the Employment Ordinance, a helper can enjoy 14 days of statutory holidays, regardless of how long they have been employed. This article will show you the statutory holidays in 2024 and related issues towards them.
Employers must give the domestic helper a total of 14 statutory holidays in a year. If you cannot let the helper take leave on a holiday, you should give prior notice of not less than 48 hours and an alternative holiday within 60 days. The alternative holiday can be either before or after the original holiday.
Foreign domestic helpers (FDH) in Hong Kong must be paid for their statutory holidays, after 3 months of employment, as stated in the law. The holiday pay should be paid to the helper no later than the next payday after that statutory holiday.
If the employers fail to grant statutory holidays or alternative holidays or fail to pay holiday pay to a foreign domestic helper, they may be liable to prosecution and a maximum fine of HK$50,000 upon conviction.
Statutory holidays are important for domestic helpers to rest and have their own time. Remember to take the responsibility to grant the helpers public holidays in Hong Kong and respect their right to rest and have paid holidays.
As both Employer and Helper
1. How long should a helper work before he/she can enjoy the statutory holidays in a year?
2. How many days of annual leave should be given to a helper in a year?
3. Who determines the timing of annual leave taken by a helper?
4. Should annual leave include rest days and statutory holidays?
5. Should vacation leave be granted in addition to annual leave? Is it paid or unpaid?
6. Can an employer compel his/her helper to take no pay leave when the employer is going aboard?
As Employer
7. What kinds of leave are foreign domestic helpers entitled to under the Employment Ordinance?
8. How should I appoint rest day to my helper?
9. Can I ask my helper to work on his/her rest day?
10. Can I ask my helper to perform duties after he/she returns home on his/her rest day?
11. Can I require my helper to work on statutory holidays?
12. Can I ask my helper to forfeit a statutory holiday in exchange for extra wages with his/her consent?
13. If a statutory holiday falls on my helpers rest day, is it obligatory for me to grant him/her another holiday?
14. How should I grant annual leave to my helper on completion or termination of employment contract?
In this Kwiksure article, we will examine how to calculate the four types of holidays for foreign domestic helpers (FDHs), and whether these helpers can work on a holiday. Hopefully, this will serve to help employers abide by the law.
PSA: Regardless of the length of service, even if the foreign helper has only been in her job for one day, the employer must allow the foreign helper to take statutory holidays. It is an offense not to allow the FDH to take these holidays, or to try to buy out these holidays from the FDH.
However, if both the employer and the domestic helper agree, the foreign domestic helper can actually work on statutory holidays, provided notice is given to the FDH at least 48 hours in advance, and make-up leave within 60 days is arranged. Even if the helper agrees, their statutory holidays cannot be bought out! Otherwise, the employer faces a maximum fine of HK$50,000!
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