Domestic limbo
The COVID-19 pandemic and tougher rules for hiring foreign domestic workers have led to a precipitous drop in the number of FDW in Hong Kong. The decline is set to continue if the pandemic worsens. Su Zihan reports from Hong Kong.
The Immigration Department said it handled 5,844 applications for employment visas or extensions of stay by FDWs suspected to have been involved in job-hopping last year. Up to 2,833 applications were rejected - almost nine times the total number of applications turned down in 2020.
The department warned that it would not approve applications submitted by domestic workers thought to have been job-hopping. Their records are also taken into account when they apply for new work visas or extensions of stay. The department has all along been proactively combating job-hopping among FDWs and set up a special duties team in June 2013 to deal with the problem.
Chan explained that job-hopping refers to workers who prematurely terminate their employment contracts or deliberately perform poorly to force their employers to fire them in order to change jobs.
Under the SAR government's existing policies, FDWs are required to leave Hong Kong upon completion of their employment contracts or within two weeks of their contracts being terminated, whichever is earlier. Even if they intend to work for a new employer, they must still leave the city and submit a fresh application for a work visa to Hong Kong's Immigration Department from their home countries.
Although the SAR government announced on March 21, 2020 that FDWs would be allowed to extend their stay in Hong Kong as visitors for not more than a month to reduce their risk of being infected with COVID-19 when they travel, the practice was discontinued on Dec 30, 2020 to prevent FDWs from abusing it.
But Chan thinks it doesn't look fair for the government to be more inclined to protect the interests of employers in dealing with job-hopping by FDWs. An employer's comments and complaints may prevent an FDW from ever returning to Hong Kong again, he said.
"It would be more appropriate to define it as switching jobs rather than hopping jobs," Chan said.
On the same side of the fence with Chan is Adam Cheung Ka-lok - an assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University's sociology department. He said there is nothing wrong with seeking a job that pays well and offers better working conditions. However, due to the specific nature of FDWs' work contracts, employers themselves have to bear the high costs of hiring a new helper.
