DH asking to borrow money

jane01 said:
Personally, I think keeping a helper's passport is too much like slavery, but that is just me...
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I'm not crazy about the idea either. But it really pisses me off that when helper's borrow money, they give the finance companies your home #. The loan sharks don't care if there's a child/baby in your house. They'll call non-stop, in our case it was every 5mins. We eventually took the phone off the hook for a few days and my helper also switched off her mobile. Which is a real pain if you don't have another land line/ cell phone # and you can't call home to check on yr child.
 
Joanne - yes, after reading these stories, it sounds like I have been lucky. I hired my helper when she was already in HK, so if she had agency debts, she must have paid them before she started working for us (I will have to ask her about it). I know she is very careful with money and that is one of the qualities I like about her - I think it shows she is responsible. Having said that I know she doesn't have the opportunity to save much money as she is supporting her whole village at home (well, it seems like that).

If finance companies harass you at home for your helper's debts can you report them to the police/have them barred from your telephone through the phone company/etc?
 
you're very lucky to be able to find a helper from HK who is responsible & good. i'm trying to replace this DH I have, but all the agents i went to said i have zip chance of hiring one from HK, cos i have 2 other helpers at home, and there are a lot of ppl in the household.
 
Joanne - reading the experiences of people here makes me realise how lucky I am.

Do you mean that you currently have 2 helpers and need a third? Wow, that's a lot of helpers ! Could you hire a relative/friend of one of your current helpers? Hopefully that way they would work well together? When my helper's daughter in law came from the Philippines to HK (to work for another family) my helper paid the agency fee, so there was no trouble with finance companies.

But sounds like you don't need my advice, as you have plenty of helper experience already. Good luck.
 
i thought of asking the helpers to introduce, so that they will get along. but if it's introduced by them, if i don't like her on arrival, it'd be upsetting to fire the new one. yes, we already have 2 helpers in the house, and i need one more to take care of my child. we have 6 people in the household, so these 2 helpers have their hands full already.

i live with my in-laws & they're shanghainese. they're used to having cooks & maids around the house. They're used to having 6-8 dishes +soup for dinner. then my MIL always come home for lunch (which she needs 2-3 dishes), and she has afternoon tea (noodles or dimsum). so the cook is very busy. the other one does the cleaning and tidying. the washing machine runs 5 loads of wash/day!! my MIL hires the other two, and i only hire the one who takes care of my baby.
 
Oh Joanne, you really have your hands full. MIL sounds very demanding. Makes me glad mine lives in another country !

My helper had her daughter in law come over here on a visitors visa so that the new employer could meet her. She didn't work, just sort of an interview. The new employer needed to meet her in person before they would hire her, fair enough. I wrote a letter saying that I supported the daughter in law coming to HK (whatever that means).

The only other thing I could suggest would be to make your current helper responsible for the new helper - ie training, work ethic, etc. That way if it doesn't work out, it isn't your fault. Although on the downside, if it doesn't work out you might need to get rid of two helpers, not just one. Oh dear I'm no help at all. Best of luck.
 
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