Hong Kong man fined HK$9,000 for charging Indonesian domestic helper 32 times permitted fee
Wong Man-chau, 57, from Gold Union Employment Agency, made worker Sundari, 37, sign documents requiring her to pay loan shark HK$15,000
A former employment agency licensee was fined HK$9,000 by the Eastern Court on Thursday, after he admitted to charging an Indonesian domestic helper agency fees that were 32 times the prescribed legal limit.
Special magistrate Robin Yue King-tin said the case reflected serious exploitation as the overcharged intermediary fee of HK$12,889 was more than three months of a domestic helper’s pay.
While the Indonesian domestic helper Sundari, 37, and the unions backing her welcomed the verdict, they said the fine was too small.
Wong Man-chau, 57, from Gold Union Employment Agency pleaded guilty on Thursday to one charge of receiving payment other than the prescribed commission, which is punishable by a maximum fine of HK$50,000.
The court heard that Wong was supposed to collect only 10 per cent of Sundari’s monthly salary in agency fees, at HK$411.
But he took her to a finance company last October to borrow HK$13,300 and made her sign documents that required her to pay the loan shark HK$15,000, including interest, in five months to repay the employment agency.
Sundari paid the first instalment of HK$3,000 and later reported her case to labour unions. It was transferred to the Labour Department last December, after she refused to pay a second time.
“I refused to pay, and this company called my boss to say I should be fired,” she recalled outside court.
“I was of course scared, I came to Hong Kong to earn money, I was worried about losing my job.”
Sundari explained that she needed her job to support her mother and nine-year-old son in Indonesia, and she was able to keep it because her boss found there was no reason to lay her off when she had done nothing wrong.
I hope no Indonesian, Filipino or Thai will be cheated by agencies again.
Still, she said, this was not her first such experience in her 10 years working as a foreign domestic helper in Hong Kong, and that many of her friends faced the same predicament.
“They don’t even dare to tell others,” Sundari said. “I hope no Indonesian, Filipino or Thai will be cheated by agencies again.”
Leo Tang Kin-wah, organising secretary for the Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Union, said they had so far received 12 complaints relating to the same agency, but only five cases had been transferred to Labour Department.
The overcharged fees ranged from HK$15,000 to HK$42,000.
His union is calling for the government to review the Employment Agency Regulations and crack down on agencies overcharging intermediary fees by raising the penalty.
“A HK$9,000 fine carries no deterrent effect at all – it is very insufficient, it cannot reflect the severity,” he added.
Wong, who used to be in logistics, obtained a licence for Gold Union Employment Agency last August and resigned last month.
