Hiring a helper through direct employment

Hi Rani and to all who is planning to get a direct hire helper.....

The agency fee ranges from 1,600-2,000 dollars, BUT this is just the fee that we should pay in Hk. The poor helper also has to pay another 20,000 pesos in Manila, so it turns out to be expensive too.

What i did is find an agency that i pay all the expenses here, around $3,200, the helper won't pay anything in Manila anymore.

The processing takes 4-6 weeks.
 
hi all,

i didn't do it thr any agency. but my helper used to work in hk before. maybe that was why they didnt need me to do it thr an agency?
 
jessieywl said:
hi all,

i didn't do it thr any agency. but my helper used to work in hk before. maybe that was why they didnt need me to do it thr an agency?
Click to expand...

You are absolutely right, jessie. Mine is a first timer so she has to have an agency. I didn't know that until the last minute, it's good i called the Phil. consulate to verify if i can do the leg work. :burnout:
 
First Timer

Me and my friends have all managed to hire first timer helpers (never worked in HK before) by ourselves. Didn't have any problems. Just have to beat around the bush a bit. It can be done for sure.
 
Hi Hermoine,

When was that? i have a friend too who insisted that it can be done, then i found out that it happened a year ago, rules of consulate changes. THE ONLY excemption is if the helper has work with your family before.
 
A month ago

Hi MamaS, my friend's helper arrived just shy of a month ago. Her helper has not worked in Hong Kong, nor any of her family members before. Please don't be offended, I mean well, but sometimes, with SE Asian consulates, you have to be prepared with the mentality that their rules can sometimes be different (or bent) from staff to staff, and from occassion to occassion. They can be a lot more flexible than say, US or UK consulates. And so, the way you enquire or present your case may result in the differing level of flexibility. Maybe there are other reasons, but that's just what I think. In any case, as long as your helper doesn't need to pay anything whatsoever in the Phillipines, I think HK$3200 is about right. :)
 
Hi,
We are moving to Hongkong in June and I will be interested in getting a helper. I just assumed I would be able to pick one up who already worked in the country when I arrived to save any hassles. From what I am reading it seems like they are hard to come by. Am I correct? Also i just want to clarify if it is true that they have to be full time and live in your home?
Thanks,
Sally.
 
hi nita,

Well, when the agency discouraged you about hiring a first time helper, it's right ;) I hired someone directly from Philippines and like you, I shouldered everything. After 3 months, she quit ( well, we were thinking of firing her anyway.)

The thing is, since she din't pay a cent, she took her job for granted. She was only in charge of taking care of my 7 month old baby but she took advantage of the situation. It was her first time to work in Hong Kong too and I'm pretty sure she's not ready to accept how things go here.

She'd be sleeping when the baby sleeps instead of washing baby's clothes and stuff... she'd even brought her cross-stitching kit for past time.. I was totally surprised! It seemed like she din't come to HK to work but to have a vacation!

I think, asking the helper to at least pay half or a quarter of the agency fee is just fair. It's just for your feeling of assurance :) I hope everything works out well.

I'm hiring another one again... this time, I din't shoulder all the costs, I've asked her to pay for the miscellaneous stuff... at least, she had to open her wallet too and value what she's up to here.

Cheers
 
The rules change all the time. I just hired mine 3 months ago. Under our contract (at the time we signed it), yes, she has to live at the place where she works.
 
xmauix

Suspect your DH was a nanny back in Philippines. Nannies there just have to take care of the baby (nanny:baby ratio is 1:1 there). Household work are done by other helpers. So if she never worked overseas, she might have completely wrong expectation about working in HK.

I actually hired my DH direct as well. She never worked overseas but we're lucky as we don't have any problems you encountered. So far she is great, very efficient, hard working, and very good to my son.

Hope you find someone good soon.
 
Agency Name, please?

Can you please provide the name of the agency that charges $3,200 for direct hire?

Thanks!

mamaS said:
Hi Rani and to all who is planning to get a direct hire helper.....

The agency fee ranges from 1,600-2,000 dollars, BUT this is just the fee that we should pay in Hk. The poor helper also has to pay another 20,000 pesos in Manila, so it turns out to be expensive too.

What i did is find an agency that i pay all the expenses here, around $3,200, the helper won't pay anything in Manila anymore.

The processing takes 4-6 weeks.
Click to expand...
 
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