Helper not entitled to statutory holidays during the first three months?

H

HK2008

Registered User
Hi all,
I need more advice please. My helper(who joined us a week ago) told me today that she should not be entitled to any statutory holidays during the first three months after commencing the contract with us. She said it was written in the employment contract. Is this true? My copy of the contract is still with the agency. Can someone please confirm this and preferrably quoting some regulations of the law? I'm fully prepared for her to take the holidays. It's just nice to know a bit more on this issue.
Thanks in advance.
 
i think she is entitled to have the statutory holidays off but not entitled to have this PAID if the employer doesn't wish to.

would think (or would hope) most employers just give this off as paid days off if the helper is working out.
 
what slamdunk says is true. she is entitled to have them off, just not be paid for them.

we paid for them anyway.

ps. thanks for the clothes, they're gorgeous!
 
Thanks slamdunk and carang. My one is certainly working out very well with us, so will pay her for the three statutory holidays in Apr and May.

No worries, carang. As promised, will keep all the size 3 clothes & shoes for your DD too. Have a wonderful trip back home!
 
Only Apr 4th (Ching Ming) is a statutory holiday in Apr. In May, only May 1st (Labor Day) and May 28th (Tuen Ng) are statutory holidays. The others (e.g. Easter, Buddha's birthday) are general holidays.

Even though they're not statutory holidays, you still have the discretion of letting your helper have them as days-off.

Acc. to the government website --

An employee is entitled to the following 12 statutory holidays -

1. the first day of January;
2. Lunar New Year's Day;
3. the second day of Lunar New Year;
4. the third day of Lunar New Year;
5. Ching Ming Festival;
6. the first day of May;
7. Tuen Ng Festival;
8. the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival;
9. Chung Yeung Festival;
10. Chinese Winter Solstice Festival or Christmas Day (at the option of the employer);
11. the first day of July; and
12. the first day of October.
Click to expand...
 
Legally within the first three months she is not legally entitled to statutory holidays, however, it will be nice if she is given them as paid holidays, after all, we are not just talking of the law, but a working relationship. After all, think of how you will like to be treated if your roles are reversed.

I had some very bad employers, especially amongst the expats who abuses their helpers in terms of holidays and in terms of money.
 
edwinp said:
Legally within the first three months she is not legally entitled to statutory holidays, however, it will be nice if she is given them as paid holidays, after all, we are not just talking of the law, but a working relationship. After all, think of how you will like to be treated if your roles are reversed.

I had some very bad employers, especially amongst the expats who abuses their helpers in terms of holidays and in terms of money.
Click to expand...

Just FYI, of course knowing the law is equally important. As you may have read in other threads, there are employers who might be working on those days or some cannot afford to pay for what they are not legally required to. Although I understand where you are coming from(a helper's perspective), unfortunately it's completely up to the employers to decide whether they want to pay or not during the first three months of contract. And we cannot judge whether they are good or not just based on whether they have paid or not. I'm happy to pay my helper because she's excellent and honest(just from the fact that she told me that she should not be entitled/paid), and more importantly, I'm not working on those days.

I'm hoping you are not currently working as a helper, because if you still are, it's just showed that you have rather bad work ethics by writing on this forum when you are supposed to be working for your employer. Even you had some bad experience with some employers, I believe it takes two hands to clap after all.
 
HK2008 - how do you know that she is meant to be working? Perhaps she has a day off....perhaps her employer allows her to use the internet. Perhaps she is at an internet cafe. It's a bit rich to accuse her of having a poor work ethic just because she's (a) posted and (b) dared to say that some helpers have had bad situations with expat employers. Others have had bad situations with Chinese/Indian/Martian employers. Employers have also had bad luck with Filippina/Thai/Sri Lankan etc helpers.

Attack the argument - not the poster!
 
HappyV said:
It's a bit rich to accuse her of having a poor work ethic just because she's (a) posted and (b) dared to say that some helpers have had bad situations with expat employers. Others have had bad situations with Chinese/Indian/Martian employers. Employers have also had bad luck with Filippina/Thai/Sri Lankan etc helpers.

Attack the argument - not the poster!
Click to expand...

Now who's making assumptions here? When did I accuse her of having a poor work ethic because she dared to say that some helpers have had bad situations with expat employers? I merely pointed out that it takes two hands to clap. If she is currently taking a day off, it's not part of my pre-condition of 'currently working as a helper'. And FYI, I don't think any employer would grant their helper internet access to write on this forum during their working hours(please prove me wrong if any employer has done this). I don't know where you are coming from but looks like I had stepped on your tail for some reason only you yourself would know. And you are rich enough to say that you are not attacking the poster? Completely pointless in losing your cool.
 
My helpers have access to the internet in our home and I don't particularly care which sites they access (within the bounds of decency of course!). In general, if they want to take a few minutes during the day to use the internet on a personal basis (as I suspect we ALL do at work) and my kids are sleeping or playing safely, then it's hardly a big deal....
 
everyone has their own ideas what is acceptable and what is not.

i think the misunderstanding arose from hk2008's use of "currently working as a domestic helper". that could be read two ways:
1) currently employed as in, you have a contract as a FDH
2) currently at work as a FDH

i believe that she meant the second, however, i think happyv thought it was the first. either way.... doesn't have much to do with the original post.

take a breath and enjoy your weekend folks!
 
Hi LeahH,
Glad you are OK with this. I treat my helper the way I want to be treated. However, I'd prefer her not to use my computer, let alone internet. I had stored a lot of personal/confidential stuff like family budget(recently designed), payslips copies and bank statements, etc. So I have a computer login password.
 
carang said:
everyone has their own ideas what is acceptable and what is not.

i think the misunderstanding arose from hk2008's use of "currently working as a domestic helper". that could be read two ways:
1) currently employed as in, you have a contract as a FDH
2) currently at work as a FDH

i believe that she meant the second, however, i think happyv thought it was the first. either way.... doesn't have much to do with the original post.

take a breath and enjoy your weekend folks!
Click to expand...

Thanks! Carang. I just felt that I was suddently attacked out of the blue...You are right. I'm gonna enjoy a relaxing weekend as I've already got enough good advice for my question.
 
"I'm hoping you are not currently working as a helper, because if you still are, it's just showed that you have rather bad work ethics by writing on this forum when you are supposed to be working for your employer. " (HK2008)

Either way, you are accusing her of having a poor work ethic, which is unwarranted, as you have no idea of the specifics of her employment, or her relationship with her employers. She has as much right to post here as anyone else.
 
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