Domestic helper industry must be regulated

Domestic helpers learn to prepare a family reunion dinner at an agency in Hubei province on Feb 1. Helpers who are willing to work during the Spring Festival holiday are popular as the labor shortage usually hits the market during holidays. [GONG BO / FOR CHINA DAILY]

Regulations for the domestic service industry need to be tightened to ensure agencies can cope with demand over holidays, such as Spring Festival, experts say.

As the Chinese population ages and work pressures on young people intensify, the demand for domestic helpers who can look after the elderly and babies, clean homes and cook, has been booming, and led to the development of agencies providing such services.

The shortage of domestic helpers over holidays, especially during Spring Festival, has caused great difficulties for people such as Li Chenying, a retired resident in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province.

Li looks after her 18-month-old granddaughter for her busy daughter, but the 58-year-old said she does not enough energy to do the housework and care for the baby.

"I'm tired and really need someone to share my burden," she said. "A domestic helper can look after the child while I cook and clean rooms," she said.

Li hired a domestic helper, but a month ago the woman said she wanted to return to her hometown to celebrate Spring Festival and would not return until the end of February.

"Her (the helper's) leaving made me worried, because it is very hard to get domestic helpers during the holiday," Li said, adding that the helper was unwilling to stay despite the offer of a raise.

Yan Chuanmu, a nanny in Shanghai who returned to her hometown in Jiangxi province for Spring Festival, said domestic helpers should not be blamed for leaving their posts during the holidays.

"I also have a family with older parents and a young child. They also need me to care for them. I return home once a year, usually during Spring Festival, because it is the time for family reunion," said the 44-year-old woman who receives a monthly income of 4,200 yuan ($670).

She said if her employer, who has a 1-year-old son, raised her salary to 5,000 yuan, she would consider staying in the city.

To cope with the shortage of domestic helpers over Spring Festival, Beijing Jinyige Household Service has hired waitresses who do not return home to help fill the gap.

A staff member from the agency surnamed Gao, who refused to give her full name, said the country has no clear regulations for the industry, so agencies can make their own rules. She said 40 percent of workers in her company returned to their hometowns and more than 10 percent will not return to the capital, which is why the extra workers are a necessity.

"Most of time, what we can do is to persuade employers and employees to understand each other," said the 50-year-old who has worked for more than 10 years in the industry.

"Some agencies are just introducers, while some are enterprises that can train workers. But most residents cannot distinguish which are the better ones because all of us are called ‘agency'," she said.

Hu Shoujun, a sociologist at Shanghai-based Fudan University, said some agencies are not well regulated which causes problems.

Hu said some agencies focus on collecting their fees instead of carrying out their obligations, so some domestic helpers are short on training and not qualified, according to Hu.

"The agency must play an important role when introducing domestic helpers to residents and dealing with any conflicts between the two parties'," he said. "Actually, the agency is a coordinator. It should take responsibility when domestic helpers cause trouble for their employers."

Hu said that contracts between domestic staff and their employers, including details such as salary and rest time, are determined by the parties involved, which is not a good way to develop the market.

"Domestic helper is an occupation the same as journalist or teacher. The industry needs to be professional and regulated, or else it will be harmful to society," he said, suggesting the labor and contract laws can be changed to provide some guidance for the industry.

The agencies should clarify salary standards, rest time and punishments and write them into their regulations, Hu said.

"For example, if domestic helpers want to return home, they must tell employers weeks in advance, or else they will be placed on a blacklist and lose their reputation," he said.

Yu Ran in Shanghai and Zheng Jinran in Shijiazhuang contributed to this story.