How to Be A More Responsible Employer to your Domestic Helper
We asked experts for their advice on how you can be a more professional, compassionate and responsible employer.
The nonprofit member-based organization promotes mutual understanding and respect between foreign domestic workers and employers in Hong Kong. It conducts cultural activities as well as talks and workshops. Open Door is in the process of putting together an Employer Best Practice Handbook and welcomes readers to share their ideas online.
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What To Do
Communicate Expectations
Work expectations should be communicated as clearly and early as possible. Employers may want to focus on delegating the tasks at hand, while leaving some autonomy to the worker regarding how to complete them. Also remember that English or Cantonese might not be the domestic worker’s native language, and the employer may want to have the domestic worker repeat the instructions, especially if it’s a new task. To avoid miscommunication, encourage the worker to request clarification if they have not fully understood something.
Check In Regularly
After establishing a new work routine or set of tasks, meet with the worker regularly during quiet times. Ask about problems or suggestions regarding the new routine, and also give feedback on work performance.
Be Constructive
One of the top wishes of domestic workers—even more important than a high salary or appropriate types of work—is that they simply be treated with respect and patience by their employer. If the worker has not completed a task or met your expectations, do not react angrily or humiliate them. You may create a distant and hostile relationship and destroy an important feedback channel: the honest and accurate reports from the worker about what happens in your absence, or how certain arrangements are affecting their life. Instead, respond briefly, patiently and clearly when you note a mistake by the worker. During your regular check-in, create an open atmosphere that’s conducive to two-way communication and discussing how the overall routine can be improved.
Provide Privacy
Hong Kong homes tend to be small and there are often no clear working hours for live-in domestic workers. Thus domestic workers are often worked to exhaustion. During the least demanding times of day—typically after the children have been sent to school or after dinner—allow the worker to have their own time, space and freedom to enjoy an activity or some company.
Respect Food Customs
Live-in domestic workers are nearly all from Indonesia or the Philippines. They may have food customs and preferences different from yours. Take time to learn about them, and when you do your grocery shopping for the household, purchase foods that the worker might want to eat—be it coffee, dried fish or snacks. It would be a sign of respect for the worker’s different cultural background, as well as of their contribution to your household.
Set Priorities
Expecting one person to complete a wide range of tasks to a high degree of perfection—for example, monitoring toddlers while also cleaning an oily kitchen—can be a recipe for risky situations. Set priorities, and have realistic and reasonable expectations for the rest of the workload. For example, with small children, you may establish that their constant monitoring and safety is the first priority; if the children are much older, you may expect the domestic worker to focus on cleaning or more elaborate cooking.
If you must go through an employment agency, choose with great care to ensure that workers are treated fairly and not taken advantage of. Choosing one with integrity and good service may require paying a higher agency fee, yet could prevent problems from appearing later—ultimately saving you more expense, time and hassle. One good example is Fair Employment Agency (www.fairagency.org), a unique non-profit that aims to provide quality and transparent service to employers and helpers alike, and never charges domestic helpers placement fees.