DH in Hong Kong? Remind Your Employer on "No Work on Rest Day Policy"

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 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.

READ MORE:

OFW in Hong Kong? Here are 10 Things to Know About Racial Discrimination Ordinance

10 reasons for OFW to choose Taiwan as next work destination

DOMESTIC ABUSE EXPOSED BY A FILIPINA ON SOCIAL MEDIA

HSW IN KUWAIT, NO SALARY FOR NINE YEARS

Neglected and Abused OFW Children? You can now report it to DOLE Hotline

©2017 THOUGHTSKOTO

WATCH VIDEO:PINAY DH IN HONG KONG STRANGLED IN PUBLIC DUE TO FRIEND'S DEBT

DUE to debt, a Filipina domestic worker in Hong Kong was strangled after physically assaulted by a 56-year old South Asian man.

The incident happened in footbridge in Central last December 4 and several Filipino household workers were able to take the video of the said incident.

In a video posted on Facebook by a netizen, the man is seen shouting at the Filipina, pulling her back, grabbed her by the neck and strangled her.

The incident was stopped by several bystanders in the area.

The Filipina, who named was not released was taken to Queen Mary Hospital by police officers who responded to a 999 call. She was reportedly discharged after being declared in good condition.

According to some Filipino who witnesses the incident, the  victim acted as a guarantor to a friend who did not repay a debt to the man.

(WATCH ANOTHER VIDEO)

SEE ALSO:

ANOTHER REMINDER TO ALL OFWS: BEWARE OF "UTANG" IN ABROAD

WARNING: IN SAUDI ARABIA, BE WARY OF BEING A DEBT GUARANTOR, YOU COULD END UP IN JAIL

NEWS POST: SOME REMINDERS TO ALL OFWS AND EXPATS IN SAUDI ARABIA

OFWs IN HONG KONG URGE TO REGISTER ONLINE FOR OEC EXEMPTION

OFW LOSES 200K IN ATM SCAM

On the other news, a 40-year-old Filipina domestic worker from Bacolod City was found dead on the evening of Dec 4 in her kitchen bed space, one day after reportedly complaining of a migraine.

The helper, Johana Periera had been working for her employer for five months in Hong Kong.

Police said she was “found collapsed” and certified dead, with no suspicious circumstances. Her body was taken to a hospital for postmortem examination.

(Periera was found dead in one of the tower blocks
in Royal Ascot in Shatin)

According to the report, Periera complained to her employer that she's having a migraine last December 3.

She was told to rest until the next day which happens to be Sunday and her day off.

The employer found her unconscious, Sunday night but the emergency response from police and ambulance staff said, she was dead.

According to her friends in the area, they did not know that Periera is suffering from a migraine but prior to the incident, she reportedly had an argument with her employer. (Source:http://www.sunwebhk.com/)

RECOMMENDED POST:

JAPAN JOBS FOR FILIPINOS THIS DECEMBER 2016

JOBS AVAILABLE FOR CRUISE SHIPS AND CARGO VESSELS, LOCAL AND ABROAD

LOCAL FASTFOOD CHAINS, RESTAURANTS, AND MALLS PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR LOCAL ONION AND GARLIC PRODUCERS

FORMER DOTC SECRETARY JOSEPH EMILIO ABAYA, 7 OTHERS, FACES GRAFT CHARGES OVER P3.8 BILLION ANOMALOUS LICENSE PLATE DEAL

UNION BANK AND PNB FORECLOSED PROPERTIES AUCTION THIS DECEMBER

©2016 THOUGHTSKOTO

SUSPENSION OF WINDOW CLEANING BAN IN HONG KONG, STARTS OCT 15

The 30 days ban on exterior window cleaning by Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong has been suspended since October 15.

The Philippine consulate has decided to suspend a ban after the Hong Kong government has requested for enough time to work out the details of the issue and to seek a balance between the interest of employers and domestic helpers.

The ban will take effect for 30-days until November 14.

According to the Philippine Consulate, a new contractual clause would be installed in all Filipino Domestic Helpers Contracts stating that cleaning the outside of windows was no longer part of their duties.

(VIDEO:Window cleaning ban suspended)

The Philippines plan to ban window cleaning by domestic helpers arriving in Hong Kong after several helpers plunged to their death while carrying out their dangerous task.

The Indonesian consulate is considering a similar move.

Indonesian consul for manpower and labor Iroh Baroroh said, they are still discussing the issue, but they think that cleaning windows is a job for professionals and not for domestic workers.

There are 320,000 foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong and half of them are from the Philippines while the other half are from Indonesia.

The ban was initially announced by Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Hong Kong last October 1 after the series of accidents involving domestic helpers OFW.

(VIDEO:Pinay domestic helper falls to death in Hong Kong)

Last August, a 35-year old Filipina domestic helper feel to her death in Tseung Kwan O.

According to the report, she was cleaning windows in the flat of her employer when the accident happened.

She is the fifth domestic workers died in the city from work accident or suicide since January.

Singapore has already put the same strict restriction on window cleaning by maids in 2012 after similar accidents. Maids in Singapore are only allowed to clean the outside of window if an adult employer is present, and if the windows have grills that are locked during the process.

Meanwhile, POLO has fast-tracked the OEC exemption for OFWs.

All vacationing OFWs need a Temporary OEC Exemption Slip to be able to past immigration at Philippine airport and return to his employer.

Its serves as proof the status of returning OFWs.

But instead of queuing up for hours to access a computer at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POEA) which they are required to use previously to create an account online. It is now simplified.

What they need is just secure the slip, which comes with a reference number and they are good to go.

With this, an OFW can create an account with Balik Manggagawa Online (BMO) system using reference number provided on the exemption slip.

OFW can do this, anytime - anywhere. It means, OFW no need to use POLO's computer to create a BMO account or pay the $20 fee.

(VIDEO:Paglilinaw ni Labatt Dela Torre tungkol sa pagtanggal ng OEC)

Nearly all OFWs in Hong Kong are now exempt from getting OEC.

Aside from OFWs who are returning to their employers under an existing contract, OFWs who have been terminated will be able to avail OEC exemption slip if they have manage to get new employment contract.

Under POEA Resolution No. 12 issued on August 4, all OFWs returning to the same employer at the same work site were exempted from securing the OEC, provided that they had previously registered their work and personal details with BMO.

©2016 THOUGHTSKOTO