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Foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong: How difficult are their working conditions?
Foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong, often employed by local families, have become an integral part of the city. They make up about 5% of Hong Kong's total population, with 98.5% of domestic workers being women. They provide a large amount of labor to families every year and are responsible for many daily household chores such as cooking, cleaning and child care. However, the working conditions of these foreign domestic workers have attracted increasing attention from human rights organizations and have been accused of being synonymous with modern slavery.
A report from 2016 showed that one in six domestic workers in Hong Kong was considered to be suffering from forced labor.
According to the latest data, there were about 400,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong in 2019, most of whom were from the Philippines and Indonesia. Foreign domestic workers are required by law to live in their employers' housing, which undoubtedly increases their work pressure and life difficulties. To make matters worse, foreign domestic workers have almost no independent living space in Hong Kong, which often causes them to suffer great psychological and physical stress.
Foreign domestic helpers are usually paid less than local Hong Kong workers, a disparity that makes it difficult for them to earn a decent living.
Although foreign domestic workers perform a variety of jobs, their rights are often ignored when they face abuse by their employers. According to reports, some employers have even faced charges of illegal wage deductions, physical and mental abuse. For example, one of the most well-known cases is the one in which Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, an Indonesian domestic worker, was severely beaten by her employer and attracted public attention. Ervana's experience has sparked social discussion on foreign domestic workers and their working conditions, and illuminated the invisible plight of this group.
According to information, many foreign domestic workers need to go through specialized agencies during the recruitment process. The operations of these agencies are often accompanied by high fees and opaque charging standards, which makes the job search process heavy for many job seekers.
“Employers often pay their foreign domestic workers wages while asking them to do more than what is stipulated in their employment contracts. This is a blatant violation of their basic rights.”
In Hong Kong, the minimum wage for foreign domestic workers is protected by law, but this statutory minimum wage often cannot meet their basic survival needs in Hong Kong. For example, the minimum wage in Hong Kong is HK$4,630 per month, but their income is extremely limited compared to local workers, and they do not have other social security packages. This means that foreign domestic workers still face difficult financial situations even when they work full-time.
Against this backdrop, the burden on foreign domestic workers has become increasingly heavy due to poor working conditions. Not only do they have to deal with mental stress, but they also have to bear problems such as long working hours and insufficient rest days, which are among the important factors that cause their physical and mental exhaustion.
"Many foreign domestic workers experience not only physical fatigue at work, but also loneliness and despair in their hearts."
Faced with this situation, some human rights organizations have begun calling for reforms to the treatment of foreign domestic workers, emphasizing that stricter laws should be enacted to protect their basic rights, including wages, working hours, and rest. As Hong Kong society gradually pays more attention to this issue, does this mean that there will be opportunities to improve the treatment of foreign domestic workers in the future?
Although the current situation may still not be optimistic, all sectors of society still have hope and expectations for the treatment of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong. Increasing dialogue and advocacy have made this issue a widely known issue. However, in the face of long-standing and deeply entrenched systems, how can real change be achieved? What will be the future of these foreign domestic workers?
