[lavanda_fairy]

I think they can sign contract locally just like my mother's current helper(she's been there for 4 - 5 months now), she finished her contract with her former employer and my mother employ her, but it takes about 4 - 6 weeks to get a new working visa for her, so during that period of time, she is not allowed to work for you. According to the agency, even if the contract is terminated, she could still sign contract locally and doesn't need to go back to the Philippines, but the immigration dept. might not give her a new working visa depending on what sort of reason her contract is terminated (the majority of them were financial problems). So basically if you are in a hurry, it's better to get someone whose contract was finished not terminated. That's what the agency says.
Hope this help.

[Seb's Dad]

For what it is worth, here is our recent experience:

We just hired two helpers through Josie James (Jan/Feb 04) and JJ handled all the paperwork. Both our new helpers were technically supposed to go back to the Phil for 14 days prior to re-starting with us. In one case the helper term'ed her existing contract early and in the other case the contract was finishing.

Since my wife was on bed rest with triplets, and one of the helpers had only just been back to the Phil in October, (the early term one), we wrote a letter to Immigration requesting an exception. According to JJ, the rule of thumb is going back every two years. Immigration granted the exception.

Meanwhile, our previous helper started a new contract in Jan 04 without going back to the Phil.

Regards

Charles

http://home.netvigator.com/~tlyons/triplet.htm

[Jenny]

provided that your new helper has gone home at least once in the past 2 years, she does not need to return before commencing employment for you. the rule is that she needs to go home once every 2 years. also, if the matter is urgent, you can write a letter to HK Immigration asking for an exception and allowing your new helper to commence employment immediately.

[michelef]

I have always hired maids who either finished or terminated from their contracts. They were all being exempt from going home prior to the new contracts. The rule of thumb is to write to the Immigration about your needs and they will consider exempting the 14 days home return policy.

I am recently interviewing for a new maid too, anyone else in the same situation? I have 3 kids (1 in secondary and 2 in primary, all full day schools) and living with my mother in law (but she is traveling a lot of times, only in Hong Kong for 3 - 4 months per year, but we have a room for her still). As soon as they know I have 3 kids + MIL, they almost hung up on me immediately or tell me they are busy for interviews... Any tips from anyone who could get a good maid? I am hesitant in going thru agencies because of some horrible experiences before hand... like the maid back out after 2 months of waiting, maid vanished without a trace after arriving, maid's neglience and burnt my boy's hand (he was still a toddler then).... these are all different maids hired from agencies!

[armstroe]

Were the maids you hired direct from the Philippines or already working in Hong Kong - they sound like some terrible experiences.

I have just used an agency, and thanks to the good advice shared on the help with your helper thread here on geobaby I was able to spell out my conditions (including candidates that had finished their contracts and had good releases/references and employer phone numbers to call) and was very pleased with the calibre of helpers they sent to be interviewed.

[michelef]

The ones I had to write letters for exemptions are already in Hong Kong.

Which agency did you use? I've interviewed another one today, she didnt' want to work for me cos I have asked her to share the room with my daughter. I really have no faith on these girls anymore...

[Kim]

I too am interviewing for a helper on an urgent basis. We just found out on Tuesday that the helper we have been waiting for, for two months, has decided to stay in the Philippines after really stringing us along, including paying for insurance, the levy, etc. I am pretty stressed because I just had my first baby who will be one month old on Friday. I should of recognised the signs that this helper was unreliable including she kept delaying her return and asking for more time. She did however come highly reccomended so I didn't want to believe my initial instincts.

In any case, I would be grateful for any advice on where to find a new helper - QUICK! I am not very familiar with the agencies here.

On a side note - how can I put my baby's picture onto the site??

[michelef]

Hi Kim,

So sorry to hear this. I have had the same experiences too, 1 backed out after 2 months and 1 disappeared after a day of arrival...

God Bless Me, I found THE perfect maid yesterday and I am going to sign the contract with her.. I hope she will come (the other one I confirmed disappeared on me too.. sigh). I had been interviewing maids from asiaxpat.com, they are already in Hong Kong and you can meet them in person. However, you might get some horrid ones who will demand a lot of things and basically 'interview' you before you get a chance to interview them and what have you, but there are still good ones out there, I found mine on asiaxpat too.

And I have found out that some maids might take advantage of you (if you are expat) becaues they assume you do not know the policies very well. My colleague (American) had got maids asking for more than $4500 salary. If you are ok, then that's fine but some of the expats in HK do not know what the right salary is. By law, you are required to give at least $32X0 (sorry, cannot remember down to the exact dollar) and then you've to pay $400 per month to Gov't as tax. However, we usually pay them $36X0 (the maid I was going to fire gets $38X0 per month) excluding tax cos we do not want them to have to bare the tax cos they've got family to support. I sometimes might also offer a probation period too which will be the basic salary for 3 months and then an increment after 3 months if she is up to our standard.

I hope the perfect one will come along soon for you.

Good luck!

PS. If you want to post a picture, you will fin 'attach file' after the "your reply". Press Browse and then put in the path for your doc (ie. jpeg, gif etc).