Why Hong Kong should consider better regulating the working hours of foreign domestic workers and bumping their salaries

Doreen (not her real name) has worked for the same household for the past decade.

She counts herself lucky for having a good relationship with her employers, but the Covid-19 pandemic – which has brought longer working hours – has put a strain on her health.

“The hardest part has been the workload,” said Doreen, 45, describing the housing chores that have piled up.

“Before [the pandemic], the boy was going to school. Now he is more at home, and we spend a lot of time outside – I feel exhausted,” she said.

For workers like Doreen, the lines between work and rest have become blurrier during the pandemic.

According to the non-profit group Mission for Migrant Workers, 98 per cent of the domestic workers looking for support complained about long working hours in 2020. Seven out of 10 said they worked 11 hours a day, while three out of 10 worked more than 16 hours.

Other domestic workers told me that many employers have become more demanding when it comes to cleaning standards. Spending more time at home has also led to growing conflicts, both between family members and sometimes also between the family members and their domestic workers.

Last month, the Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body sent a letter to Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor urging her to improve their work conditions.

“When children’s schooling went online and employers worked from home, [domestic workers] became support teachers for the children, cooking more meals for their employers, and ensuring that everyone remained safe from the pandemic,” the advocates said.

But despite longer working hours and additional tasks, many workers say that their wages have remained the same.

In September, the government announced that the minimum wage for migrant domestic workers – HK$4,630 (US$595) per month – would be unchanged for a second consecutive year.

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Authorities partly justified the decision with the economic impact of the pandemic, but said that an allowance for workers who did not receive food from their employers would rise to not less than HK$1,173 – HK$52 more than before.

Domestic workers were disappointed by the news, saying that they too were facing increased financial pressure and greater expenses both in Hong Kong and their home countries, to where they often remit most of their money.

A survey by HelperChoice – an online platform that connects foreign domestic workers and families in Asia – estimated that the average salary of domestic workers had reached HK$5,144 per month last year, which was mainly due to a labour shortage. The number of domestic workers fell from 400,000 in 2019 to about 370,000 last year.

But while some employers are now finding it more difficult to hire a domestic worker and offering better salaries, that doesn’t necessarily equate with an improved situation for most workers.

The Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body noted that the working and living conditions of many migrant workers have in fact worsened over the past two years because of issues such as little rest, improper accommodation, and lack of nutritious food.

At the same time, workers have struggled due to being apart from their families and many are facing mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety.

“All of Hong Kong society has been affected by this prolonged pandemic. Yet while support has been given to most of Hong Kong society to ease the burdens, migrant domestic workers have been left out of the majority of the government social protections and support,” the letter to Lam read.

A previous study showed that in 2018 Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers contributed an estimated US$12.6 billion to the city’s economy – about 3.6 per cent of the city’s gross domestic product. Domestic workers enabled more than 110,000 mothers in Hong Kong to rejoin the workforce.

As we enter the third year of the pandemic, authorities should listen to the needs of foreign domestic workers, a group made up mostly of women from the Philippines and Indonesia.

Working hours must be better regulated and a pay rise should be considered. The government could come up with a relief package targeting these workers – which would not only serve as a morale booster, but also help the families who hire them.

Many of these women play a crucial role for Hong Kong families, with children often seeing them as motherly figures. They should not be let down at this difficult time.