For household workers, when we say "Rest Day" it should really mean a 24 hour day of rest or "Day Off" when you are entitled to have a time for yourself free from doing work that you are being paid.
Vice Consul Alex Vallespin in Hong Kong have reminded domestic helpers or household workers to remind their employees that are entitled and it is mandatory to have a 24-hour rest day for every period of seven days of work.
The 24-hour period also starts from the midnight of the rest day up until the midnight of the following day.
Vallespin also said that Hong Kong Labour and Immigration departments agreed that the rest period for Filipino domestic workers should be flexible if their duties include taking care of ailing members of the family at night.
“The Labour Department said daily rest of domestic helpers depends on their job responsibility. If the helper is taking care of a patient, then continuous rest is not applicable. Helpers who take care of patients at night should be given time to rest during daytime,” he said.
Vallespin also said that Hong Kong Labour and Immigration departments agreed that the rest period for Filipino domestic workers should be flexible if their duties include taking care of ailing members of the family at night.
“The Labour Department said daily rest of domestic helpers depends on their job responsibility. If the helper is taking care of a patient, then continuous rest is not applicable. Helpers who take care of patients at night should be given time to rest during daytime,” he said.
Vallespin said they will bring to the Technical Working Group, a meeting among Philippine officials and Hong Kong’s Labour and Immigration officials, the issues of food allowance and rest hours of Filipino domestic workers.
In the last celebration of International Migrants Day in Hong Kong a group of migrant workers turned over to the office of Hong Kong Chief Executive C.Y. Leung a petition asking for standardized working hours, particularly “11 hours of uninterrupted rest.”
(Domestic helpers gather on their day off in Hong Kong)
(Domestic helpers gather on their day off in Hong Kong) |
Emma Villanueva, the chairman of Bayan Hong Kong and Macau said that the petition was not just signed by migrant workers from the Philippines but also from Indonesia, Thailand, and Nepal.
“We are asking the government to give us 11 hours of uninterrupted rest,” Villanueva said in an interview.
Vallespin added that as long as there are a valid clamor and mass support for 11 hours of uninterrupted rest for domestic workers, they will bring it up to TWG.
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