Letters | Domestic helpers’ maternity employment rights begin with awareness
- Too often, foreign domestic workers are unaware of their maternity rights, while their employers may believe they don’t have any
- While all working women in Hong Kong are eligible for maternity leave, a lack of information means domestic helpers do not have the same access to this right
Today, on International Domestic Workers Day, there are around 340,000 women in Hong Kong doing essential household work to improve the lives of over a million people.
But the lives of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong can be difficult, especially when attempting to access maternity rights while caring for the families of their employers.
A recent survey focused on employers of migrant domestic workers conducted by PathFinders – a local charity that assists migrant mothers and their children – found that most are unaware of employment protections available to pregnant employees. Almost half the respondents believed migrant domestic workers do not have a right to maternity leave, and almost all assumed helpers are not even allowed to become pregnant in Hong Kong. Most thought they could terminate their worker’s contract if she became pregnant.