Help - our domestic helper is pregnant

N

ninahudd

Registered User
Oh Crumbs. Found out today our domestic helper is pregnant. I have a 3 month old and am going back to work after Christmas. By then she will be 5 and a half months. We have only just started contract with her a couple of months a go(she didn't know when she signed). I just don't know what to do. I know we need to give her maternity leave but who looks after my baby when she is on leave? I have no family here and am under contract myself.
She says she wants to stay in our emplyoment and has already started attending antenatal classes ready to deliver in HK. She has not told her family as she thinks they will disown her (she is single and it wasn't planned) so does not want to return to the philippines. But then, where does the baby live and who cares for it? I can't see how it can live with us and how she can do her job and look after our little one and hers at the same time. I don't want to be heartless towards her and we are not cross or upset with her at all but it is a really difficult situation. Any one else had a similar problem or know what on earth we can do?
 
Can you speak to your agency who helped hiring your helper? If she was already pregnant when she signed the contract, then I think it is breach of contract because you were supposed to hire a "single" female, not someone pregnant. Of course it might be a different story if she got pregnant after she came to HK. Who is the baby's father and what is her plan after the baby is born?
 
we didn't hire her through an agency. She says she was not pregnant wheh she signed contracts so she is not in breech of contract. The father is not sticking around so she is on her own with this.
 
The father is philippino and still there. She got pregnant while she was there waiting for us to process the contracts. She is planning on keeping the baby but she does not know how or what to do really.
 
Hi Nina,

What a tough situation. There have been a few cases that the Gov't has granted Right of Abode to babies of Helpers born in HK. She can have the baby here, but most helpers are going home to leave their babies with family in the Phillipines to raise.

According to the Gov't website:

  • If the Employee becomes pregnant and she has worked with the Employer for a minimum of 40 weeks, the Employer will allow 10 weeks paid maternity leave with wages being 4/5 of the regular salary.
  • If the Employee becomes pregnant and she has worked with the Employer for a minimum of 4 weeks but less than 40 weeks, the Employer will allow 10 weeks maternity leave without pay.

I guess you need to sit down with her and find the best solution for both of you.
 
Does that mean that the baby cannot automatically stay in Hong Kong?
Do you know how we go about covering her maternity leave? Obviously we cannot hire anyone else for such a short contract? Any ideas?
 
Nina,

Here's the link to the story in the Filipino newspaper

http://www.sunweb.com.hk/Story.asp?hdnStoryCode=1777

I don't know if the Gov't will grant ROA automatically after these 2 have been approved. Or it will be on a case/by case basis. If that's the case, the baby will have to return to the Phillipines. I would email the Immigration Dept and ask what the process is. [email protected]

While she's on Maternity Leave, you could hire someone locally on a part-time basis. There are quite a few legal Filipino Helpers in HK.
 
What a sticky situation.

My friend was in a similar situation 2 years ago. She liaised with the pregnant helper, basically agree a "price" for her to agree to leave employment.If I remember correctly, my friend paid her ex-helper the FULL contract amount (ie she had 1 year contract left, she rec'd the FULL pay) and then ask her to leave and then employ a new helper.

Good Luck

Rgds

e
 
Hi Nina,

I really feel bad for you, and I can really understand how stressed out you must be about this situation.

My family has been hiring Philipino maids for over 30 years now, and to be honest (without sounding mean), we have learnt that a lot of them are heartless and lie about their situations etc. By the sound of your case, I really think that your maid should be responsible about it all and you should talk to her and hopefully get her to leave. It is really no use feeling bad about this as you hired her to take care of your baby and should not be having to worried about how you are going to have her baby and yours to look after too.

Maybe you can work out an arrangement where you do not pay her for the few months leading to the birht of her baby until the time when she has sorted out the situation and found someone to take care of her baby. You can agree to let her come back to work for you once all that is sorted.

It is seriously not a good idea to let her baby stay with her in your place since we all know which baby she will take care of more!

Hope all goes well for you.
 
no, she should have bought insurance that would cover it. it is illegal not to have insurance for the helper. although, if she hasn't got insurance, then YES, she has to pay for it. even so, public hospitals are not expensive at all.
 
I can't imagine DH insurance would cover maternity stuff - but basically it's almost free to have a baby here (as long as she has an ID card - if not she's breaking the law anyway...), so that's the least of anyone's worries.
 
that's what i was thinking... the actual "cost" in $$$ is far less worrisome than what this family is going to do with no help. what if she has a problem pregnancy? that was my concern when my helper went back to PH last april when her hubby was also at the end of his contract. i asked her if she was hoping to get pregnant again. she said that she'd been thinking about it. i told her that we were planning on trying around June and that it would be terrible if she was preggers at the same time because i knew what kind of pregnancy to expect for myself.

i was right, this pregnancy has been sheer hell. i am very thankful that she didn't get pregnant, because there is NO WAY we would have been able to cope.

ps. i'm pretty sure that the insurance that we bought covered hospitalisations. it didn't specify what the hospitalisation was for though. and it would only have covered the minimal cost of public hospitals anyway. i didn't mean that the insurance would cover the costs at the matilda.
 
Exactly the same thing happened to us, but luckily I was not pregnant at the time. My hubby and I decided to keep our maid, on the following reasoning: 1) She was pleasant and we felt sorry for her, 2) There is no guarantee that your next maid would not get pregnant during employment unless she is past menopause, and it is much less likely that your maid would get pregnant again knowing the trouble she is in, 3) She would need money to look after her baby, so would need to have to work even harder, and 4) It'd probably take just as long choosing and hiring a new maid as waiting for her to come back after she has given birth.

Anyway, she was also afraid to tell her parents but we convinced her that it is not really plausible for her to have the baby in Hong Kong and she would need her family support in looking after the baby in Phillippines. She was very grateful and reassured when she knew that she still had a job to come back to, she managed to sort it out with her family very quickly after that.

Since she was pregnant when she started her employment with us, we did not have to pay for her maternity leave. Although she had to leave for 3-4 months and it was a real nuisance, we have not regretted our decision. She has been with us for over 6 years now and looks after our baby almost like her own, even volunteered to stay in to help on Sundays (paid of course) during our baby's first 8 months.

May not be the solution for everyone, but since we found our maid to be hardworking and pleasant, we decided not to ask/bribe her to leave. As anticipated, she has not gotten pregnant again and works hard to send money home for her daughter. Hope that gives you an alternative view.
 
Exactly the same thing happened to me 3 years ago but luckily I was not pregnant and without small kid at that time. It happened just after we started our 3rd contract when she came back from Philippines. At first, she said she wants to continue her employment with me and give birth in HK (but I knew she won't). After negotiation, she asked for $$$$ (I can't remember how much). Finally, she rendered her resignation and we paid her HKD10,000 at the airport (my agent taught me never give her before check in).
 
Domestic Helpers Medical Insurance

On this subject, where can I purchase domestic helpers medical insurance? Does anyone know of a company that provides this?
 
sorry, i've been trying to type the name of an insurer but it won't take....don't know why...even tried typing in their website...

rani, any idea why it won't work?thx!
 
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