Did you know that in Hong Kong, over 50 percent of domestic helpers are being charged illegally high fees, forcing them into debt bondage? Employers are rarely better off; those who are looking to hire a domestic helper are similarly affected by unscrupulous agencies in town, paying for a service that’s not as good as it ought to be. In light of the issue, there is an ever-growing need for placement agencies who uphold ethical practices and not overcharge domestic workers, as well as providing transparent and quality service to the employers.
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Allow us to paint you this picture:
a research report conducted in 2018 found that 56% of domestic helper respondents were charged illegal fees by their employment agencies. On average, first-time domestic helpers paid HK$9,013 (US$1,154), which is over 20 times the allowed maximum charge to workers by agencies. This means that domestic helpers start their time working in Hong Kong by taking out a loan to pay for their recruitment and this often leads to a cycle of debt, forcing them to be bound to their placement through poverty and debt.
For willful agencies, the expense of maximising profit falls not only on helpers, but also on employers who suffer from non-transparent pricing and poor recruitment services. When agencies do a poor job of recruiting helpers for employers, the likelihood for the match to fail is higher. When the match fails, employers are left having to restart the hiring process and helpers must begin the job search again through these agencies.
Such is a well-recognised problem in the domestic helper industry. To level the situation, Fair Employment Agency was founded in 2014 to provide honest service to both the employers and employees. As a non-profit and ethical agency, they pride themselves on helping employers hire the most fitting and suitable domestic helpers with transparent pricing and processes, all the while adhering to ethical and transparent practices. Especially for families or individuals new to the process of hiring a domestic helper, it’s essential to start off with an employment agency that you can trust.
Ethical practices
Fair Employment Agency strictly complies with the laws and regulations of Hong Kong, targeting the root of the problem that faces many domestic helpers: the bondage of debt. By eliminating recruitment fees to helpers and removing the potential struggle of debt, Fair Agency can focus on providing excellent service to you and your family—just one of the reasons why 95 percent of the helpers Fair Agency placed have reported satisfaction with their jobs, and 90 percent of employers who have used Fair would recommend them to a friend. By removing worker placement fees, Fair Agency has reinvented the domestic helper agency to work in the interest of both the workers and their employers.
Transparent pricing to employers
Fair Agency is completely transparent about what is included in your costs from the start. Employers are only required to pay the standard agency fees of$9,500 for the full service of recruiting, vetting, and placing a domestic helper. Direct Hire l services cost $8,400 for international processing and $5,000 for local processing. A Contract Renewal service is also available at a fee of$2,500. If you’re not sure where to start with when faced with industry jargons, Fair Agency staff will happily walk through them and the details of the required paperwork with you. Gaining a better understanding of the placement and hiring process is key to successful employment.
Quality service over quantity
As a non-profit social enterprise, Fair Agency is not concerned about completing as many placements as possible for profit gains. Instead, they strive to ensure that the helpers they recruit have the right skills to match the diverse needs and requirements of the employers that hire them. Whether you’re looking to hire a helper for childcare or elderly care, the professional team at Fair Agency is dedicated to finding the ideal match.
A typical hiring process looks like this: employers looking to hire a domestic helper fills up a form online and a Fair Agency team member will follow up with a call to talk through expected requirements and details of the service. At the same time, workers seeking placement first need to fill out an application with detailed work experience, followed by a face-to-face interview with the Fair Agency team. Subsequently, the workers are matched with employers who are a good fit for their skills and personalities—all assessed and confirmed in the final interviews with the employers themselves. Both sides receive thorough and regular updates throughout the entire hiring process to guarantee a win-win situation for employers and domestic helpers.
Professional and diverse services
Since its founding in 2014, Fair Agency has placed over 3,500 domestic helpers. With solid and broad experience under the team’s belt, they know Hong Kong’s domestic helper industry system inside and out.
For people looking for a helper, Fair Agency offers a range of service to suit your demands. Regarding those of you who are just starting off in your search for a helper, they offer
Full Placement service where they spend ample time with you to understand your needs, then put forward a suitable candidate who they’ve pre-interviewed for you to consider and interview. As for those who’ve already found someone you’d like to hire, they’ll take care of all the details and paperwork for you and your worker to get started via the
Direct Hire service. If you’ve already had a good helper working for you but their contract is coming to an end, the
Contract Renewal service is for you.
Fair Employment Agency
5/F, Connaught Harbourfront House, 35–36 Connaught Road West, Sheung Wan | (+852) 3568 6858
For more information on the pricing and their service, visit
Fair Employment Agency or contact them at (+852) 3568 6858
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