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Sunday, October 02, 2005
Labor dep't welcomes tougher rules v. abusive employers
LABOR Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas Saturday welcomed the move of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) to further protect and ensure the welfare of foreign domestic workers from abusive employers.
The Hong Kong Labor Department is seeking the amendment of Hong Kong's employment ordinance that would raise the maximum penalty for employers who do not pay the prescribed wage of its foreign domestic workers.
"We do not, and will not tolerate any abuse, and will investigate promptly any complaints lodged by FDHs (foreign domestic helpers) directly or by FDH groups and NGOs (non-government organizations)," said Sto. Tomas, quoting a statement made by Hong Kong Economic Development and Labor Secretary Matthew Cheung.
Under the proposed amended wage policies, violators will be made to pay a penalty of HK$350,000 (from HK$200,000) and may be imprisoned for one year to three years if proven guilty.
In a report to Sto. Tomas, Hong Kong based-labor attaché Bernardino Julve said apart from the revision of the wage policies, the Hong Kong Government would also conduct a seminar for foreign domestic workers to help them understand the customs and traditions of the host country in order to avoid maltreatment and abuse by their employers.
Julve said a team of officials from the Hong Kong labor and immigration departments was sent to Indonesia recently to organize pre-departure workshops for FDHs there and to brief them on employment and immigration.
A separate team would also be sent to the Philippines next month to conduct similar activities, Julve added.
Official records showed that there are an estimated 180,000 Filipino workers in Hong Kong, 80 percent of whom work as domestic helpers. (MSN/Sunnex)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (October 2, 2005 issue)
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