Live-out Full-time Helper

[elgoh]

Hi all,

While the convenience of having a live-in helper is unbeatable, we appreciate our privacy and the apartment doesn't have any helper's quarters.

So we've been wondering if it's possible to hire a live-out helper, who can work almost full-time hours for babysitting and housework, e.g. 6-8 hours a day.

Is that any agency out there who can help? We are only interested in doing this through the legal/hassle free way.

Appreciate your advice/recommendations! Thanks.

 

[Gracey]

You have two options:

1. You can hire a Chinese helper / nanny. But note that most Chinese nannies (pui yuet) focus mostly on baby care and maybe some cooking or child-related housework. They aren't maids, and are not going to buy groceries, clean your house, etc. Also, most won't be able to speak English. And they can be quite expensive. We sometimes use a parttime lady who charges HK $700 a day.
You can find one through the Bamboos agency.

2. You can hire a Filipina helper and arrange for her to live out. This is not technically legal, but quite common, and the government tends to not enforce, but there's still a small risk. Including housing allowance, this will cost you HK $6000 / mo.

 

[MommyTo3]

Hi all,

While the convenience of having a live-in helper is unbeatable, we appreciate our privacy and the apartment doesn't have any helper's quarters.

So we've been wondering if it's possible to hire a live-out helper, who can work almost full-time hours for babysitting and housework, e.g. 6-8 hours a day.

Is that any agency out there who can help? We are only interested in doing this through the legal/hassle free way.

Appreciate your advice/recommendations! Thanks.

Live out helpers are technically illegal, so you would need to hire locally (not a FdH) ... I am no expert but this is my understanding, somebody correct me if I am wrong. Obviously it's being done with FDH in boarding houses but it's not legal as far as I understand.

 

[meimeid]

You can hire a local helper via the labour department (just google their website). Going rate is around $60 per hour, but you can decide for yourself when sending in request. I do think this option will be easier if you speak Cantonese, but you can put up a requirement that they need to speak English very well. I found a great helper this way!