Query - how many hours a day do helpers work?

H

HongKongBaby

Registered User
We will be moving to Hong Kong this autumn, and in the process or arranging a helper. I'm trying to find out how many hours a day a helper works - and how it works when they will also babysit that evening?
Thanks!
 
Depends on your family's needs. There's no restriction on how many hours she works. Many work from 6:30am to dinner time. They have an hour or two off in the afternoon. And if you're going out at night, they will babysit till you're back. It's like having another family member in the house.
 
Thanks - so for example, if ours was to start at 7am, and work through till 7/8pm, but with a couple of hours off in the morning or afternoon, and to babysit two or three evening a week that would be OK? (And rest day etc of course).
We certainly don't want to exhaust someone!
Thanks again!
 
Yes that would be fine. If the kids are in bed before you leave, babysitting is simply having the monitor on while you're out. The minimum monthly wage for a domestic helper is approx $3600. Lots of people pay more depending on experience. Would recommend not making any major decisions until you get here. Stay in a serviced apt until you find a flat and helper.
 
ours works from 6:30am, off when our kids have their naps in the afternoon (1-2 hours) then once she's cleaned the kitchen, she's off which is usually around 8:30pm. If we are out, like Rani said above, she will stay awake until we get home.
 
Ours works basically those hours mentioned above, though we have a stay at home parent who sometimes steps in to help out (take the kids to the grocery, down to the playroom, etc) to give her a bit of a break during the day.

My advice is to just keep an eye on things. If our helper is looking overly tired, we try to plan an day out without her (i.e. off to Shek O beach on a Saturday) so she can spend a few extra hours alone without having to worry about things. Keeps the relationship good.
 
Ours works from around 8.30am or 9am to around 8.30pm, sometimes later if there is ironing or something to do. I'm a SAHM mum so it's easy for me to get up with my son and do breakfast and play with him till that time, if I worked I'd be out of the house earlier and she'd have to start earlier. Basically, as the others have said, it's about fitting in with how the family works and making sure no-one is overtired or overworked. Evenings out aren't a problem, it's just a case of watching TV and listening out for any waking, just what we do every evening :-)

I'm sure our routine will change when the next one arrives or this one starts school and needs to be out of the house earlier and we'll all have to adapt. Best not to plan to far ahead, you have to meet this person and find out how she fits into your family, what she's good at, what aspects of the job she enjoys and you can work with that.
 
Thanks everyone - feel like I've got a good idea how we would expect to plan our helper's day. First time posted on here, so great to get such useful replies!
 
No law or policy on working hours but entitle to one day off per week. Mine works from 6am to whenever time she finishes all the work.
 
rani said:
Yes that would be fine. If the kids are in bed before you leave, babysitting is simply having the monitor on while you're out. The minimum monthly wage for a domestic helper is approx $3600. Lots of people pay more depending on experience. Would recommend not making any major decisions until you get here. Stay in a serviced apt until you find a flat and helper.
Click to expand...

Hi Rani, i've lost touch of the current minimum wage for DH. I thought it was $3700 or something for new contracts right? Kindly clarify...
 
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