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As I see it | Why Hong Kong should consider better regulating the working hours of foreign domestic workers and bumping their salaries
- As Hong Kong enters the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the lines between work and rest for the city’s helpers have become blurrier
- At the same time wages remain unchanged, despite rising costs in both Hong Kong and their home countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia
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Doreen (not her real name) has worked for the same household for the past decade.
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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.
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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.
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