by PathFinders As Hong Kong battles the COVID-19 fifth wave, it is understandable many are anxious about their health and that of their loved ones - particularly young children and elderly parents. Stress mounts for many Hong Kong parents who are working from home, and supporting their children with online learning at the same time. For households who employ Migrant Domestic Workers (MDWs), there has not been a more critical time than ...
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Hiring a foreign domestic worker is usually what families do when they need someone to help with caregiving and domestic work. As of today, there are around 250,000 maids working in Singapore. Only about one-third of them finish two years of their contract. In view of this, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) feels the need to support employers in their hiring of maids, since early termination of contracts is expensive ...
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By PathFinders Legislative Council’s statistics in 2018 revealed that the median hours of employees in Hong Kong (HK) is 44.3 hours per week - which is 4.3 hours more than the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) recommendation of 40 hours per week. During the ongoing pandemic, many employees in HK are reportedly clocking more hours as they work from home. As our day gets busy, it is likely that we will neglect to ...
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By PathFinders As Hong Kong enters the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, and with many parents and their children currently working and learning from home under one roof, the boundaries between work and rest have become even more unclear. Not only are families at risk of greater stress and growing conflicts - it has a significant impact on Migrant Domestic Workers (MDW) as well. The heavier workload and longer working hours ...
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By Pathfinders With another year drawing to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect and set goals for the new year! Living thousands of miles apart from their loved ones and immersing in a culture vastly different from their own, Migrant Domestic Workers have been creating brighter futures for their children and family - as well as ours - for more than 50 years in Hong Kong. Some spend up to ...
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By PathFinders The recent Mid-Autumn Festival was a special time of getting together with family and close friends. As we enjoyed the reunion, there were as many as 370,000 Migrant Domestic Workers (MDW) in HK who had not been able to be home to see their families for almost 2 years due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A number of these MDW are mothers who left their children back in their home ...
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Due to the discovery of an untraceable mutant strain of N501Y and E484K in the community. Starting from 30 April 2021, all foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong have received a compulsory coronavirus test before May 9 as an order of government. The new regulations about the agreement of covid-19 vaccination will be added to the Standard Employment Contract. The Labour Department will give a detailed account after confirming ...
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by Enrich HK Did you know that in the Philippines, Christmas season begins in September? Houses are lovingly decorated, trees are put up, and parol (Christmas stars) are secured in place. It’s definitely a special time of year for the family. But Christmas will be very different this year. Most domestic workers reading this will be unable to travel home during this pandemic due to lockdowns, travel restrictions or greater expenses. It’s ...
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“Should I go to the government clinic or emergency room? I heard that the waiting time is very long…” “Am I entitled to the service in public hospitals? What documents should I bring?” You may have the above questions when trying to figure out where you can go for medical check-ups and treatment during your employment contract in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong health care system runs on a dual-track basis with ...
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By PathFinders Many households in Hong Kong, especially those with young children and elderly parents, rely heavily on the support of foreign domestic helpers. When helpers need to be on long leave for a period of time – due to childbirth, illness, a crisis back home - it is understandable a lot of employers feel some degree of anxiety. The imminent questions tend to be: “What will happen to my household during ...
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