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The Labour Department (LD) has all along been undertaking various publicity activities to enhance awareness of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) and their employers about their rights and obligations. To strengthen our publicity and educational efforts in this regard, the LD has published a "Do's" and "Don'ts" leaflet for FDHs, employers and employment agencies (EAs) relating to employment of FDHs so as to better protect their respective rights.
A spokesman for the LD said today (April 14), "The 'Do's and Don'ts' leaflet serves as a quick reference for FDHs and their employers to facilitate their understanding on the labour rights and obligations of FDHs. It also facilitates understanding on what kind of services EAs should offer to FDHs and their employers, and the practices which EAs should avoid. Deploying interesting comics to illustrate such information, we hope to deepen public understanding on the matters of concern in relation to employment of FDHs.
"We particularly encourage FDHs and their employers to study each and every part of the leaflet carefully before engaging an EA, or before they sign the Standard Employment Contract and during the course of the employment, so that they could be fully aware of their respective rights and benefits, as well as the 'Do's' and 'Don'ts' of the other stakeholders. On the other hand, FDHs, employers and EAs should also observe their own obligations and avoid those 'Don'ts' in the leaflet," the spokesman added.
The leaflets will be distributed at the offices of the LD, Immigration Department and Public Enquiry Service Centres of District Offices of the Home Affairs Department. The public may also download the leaflet from the LD's website (www.fdh.labour.gov.hk/res/pdf/Dos_and_Donts_Leaflet_Eng.pdf). Apart from Chinese and English versions, the leaflet in the mother languages of FDHs, including Tagalog and Indonesian, will be available soon.
Furthermore, to facilitate FDHs, their employers and the public in accessing information such as the policy and labour legislation relating to the employment of FDHs, the LD has also launched a dedicated website (www.fdh.labour.gov.hk) on employment of FDHs. This one-stop online platform contains all information and useful links related to the employment of FDHs. Publications and publicity videos related to the employment rights and obligations of FDHs are also uploaded to the website to facilitate public access.
"To facilitate FDHs' understanding of the relevant information, in addition to Chinese and English, the 'FDH Corner' of this website is also available in Tagalog and Indonesian versions. FDHs may read the information therein anywhere and at any time, either before or after their arrival in Hong Kong. We will also introduce the Thai version soon," the spokesman added.
The LD will update the website from time to time to provide the latest information related to the employment of FDHs for public's information.
Ends/Thursday, April 14, 2016
Issued at HKT 20:27
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