Holiday Policy for Amahs in HK

[Swoon]

Does anyone know how many official leave days per annum a full-time amah is legally entitled to per year?

Also, do employers have the right not to "allow" the holidays to be taken until after the first year of the contract is completed?

Lastly, how do I find out which statutory holidays are the official ones that amahs can take off?

Reason for questions--we allowed our amah to take some leave days after working 3 months for us. She did not return back on the day she promised and did not call. We couldn't reach her and had no idea what was happening. She finally called three days past her original return date and said she went somewhere too remote to call. She breached our trust, I wanted to sack her, but it was day before my return to work from maternity leave. She's still with us because she's good with the baby but we want to withhold any further leave days until the point it is legally entitled. So we need to make sure we're following legal policy.

 

[rani]

Bzee,

A domestic helper should be given 7 days Paid Annual Leave after serving for 1 year. The Paid Annual Leave entitlement increases with the year of service as follows:

2 Y - 7 Days
3 Y -8 Days
4 Y - 9 Days

However it is up to the employer to grant the annual leave after a year. Most helpers prefer to take it after completing their 2 year contract.

Helpers are also entitled to 12 statutory holidays. For 2003 these are: (I've also added these to the GeoBaby calendar to remind everyone)

The first day of January
the day preceding the Luner New Year's Day (31 January) *
Lunar New Year's Day (1 February)
the third day of Lunar New Year (3 February)
Ching Ming Festival (5 April)
Labour Day (1 May)
Tuen Ng Festival (4 June)
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (1 July)
the day following Chinese Mid- Autumn Festival (12 September)
National Day (1 October)
Chung Yeung Festival (4 October)
Chinese Winter Solstice Festival (22 December) or Christmas Day (25 December)(at the option of the employer)
* It is because the second day of the Lunar New Year in 2003 falls on a Sunday.

More info on statutory holidays here:

http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/faq/cap57f.htm

 

[Swoon]

Thank you so much Rani. This is very helpful!

 

[Jenny]

Rani, isn't the 7 paid annual leave days per year? So after 2 years, your helper is entitled to 14 paid annual leave days? I can't seem to find the info on the internet!

 

[rani]

More info here on Annual Leave here
http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/faq/cap57i.htm

Its 7 days total for 2 years.

 

[ali]

holidays

THanks for posting that link, as I've always wondered about the holiday leave as well. However, from reading the section on the govt. site it's pretty clear that helpers are entitled to 7 days after 1st year, and an additional 7 days after 2 years (not 7 days in total for 2 years) Isn't it?? Or am i missing something? I need to clear this up for myself too!!

 

[rani]

Oh no! I read it as 7 days total.

I think its time to call in an expert. :agree:

 

[ali]

Good idea! I'd like to know what my obligations are once and for all. Thanks!

 

[Fiona]

annual leave

it is 7 days PER ANNUM (ie, per year). so 2 years = 7 days per year, which is 14 days.

so at 3 years of employment it is 8 days per annum, which is 24 days, and so on.

 

[shri]

I researched this a bit.

The Guide to the Employment Ordinance is valid for FCW / Domestic helpers according to this snippet.

http://www.labour.gov.hk/text/eng/focus/20030801/news03.html

The relevant chapters of the employment ordinance are on

http://www.labour.gov.hk/text/eng/lrpd/resource_publications_guide_4.htm

and clearly state

An employee's entitlement to paid annual leave increases progressively from seven days to a maximum of 14 days according to his length of service.

Annual leave is per year not per contract term. The person employed by you (domestic helper or anyone else for that matter) is entitled to 1 week's worth of leave for every year they've worked.