LAW WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT FOREIGN HELPERS NOT BEING ENFORCED
We refer to the letter from 'Name and Address Supplied', headlined 'Government must get tough with cruel employers' (South China Morning Post, December 2) asking what measures organisations such as ours (Helpers for Domestic Helpers) would like to see the government introduce in order to curb the mistreatment of domestic helpers by some employers.
The fact is that there is already provision in the Employment Ordinance for substantial penalties for breaches of the law by employers. These range from, for example, a $50,000 fine for failure to grant rest days to a $200,000 fine and one year's imprisonment for failure to pay termination payments.
However, we have yet to hear of any errant employer being subjected to such penalties.
When claims reach the Labour Tribunal or the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board, presiding officers and adjudicators appear reluctant to exercise their powers to make a ruling and adopt instead the easier option of having the parties - and two very unequal parties at that - negotiate a settlement themselves. Court officers are therefore absolved of any duty to record a finding that the employer has breached the ordinance. In the absence of such a ruling, the employer is not prosecuted and, instead of justice and their full legal entitlement, the domestic helper is the recipient of, at best, a shabby compromise. The pressure to settle is very great on the domestic helper since the Immigration Department will generally not even consider approving new employment while the labour case continues whereas the employer is under none.
Sadly, many foreign domestic helpers endure months and sometimes years of physical and verbal abuse at the hands of their employers. Many do not report the abuse for fear of losing their jobs, but some do reach breaking point and decide to seek justice. There are provisions in the Criminal Code to deal with assault. However, the physical abuse inflicted on domestic helpers occurs in a private home where there are unlikely to be witnesses, or at least witnesses likely to support the helper's version of events. More often than not, therefore, the police close the investigation without instituting any prosecution action against the employer.
As an organisation committed to helping domestic helpers understand and enforce their rights, we would like any employer who breaches the law to be prohibited from employing another domestic helper for a period of at least two years. However, if the grim charade that currently passes for enforcement of the law continues, such a provision is likely to prove as impotent as existing legal penalties.
