[salevizos]

Ladies,

The paperwork to hire a helper is overwhelming and Im a bit lost, to be honest. A few questions...any help would be MUCH appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
Sarah

1. The HK paperwork stipulates that I might want to consider employees compensation insurance in case my helper gets injured on the job - which seems fair enough. Does anyone have any recommendations on which insurance firms provide this? Any idea of what this costs?

2. The HK paperwork also says Im liable for all medical expenses (aside from those which occur on home leave or outside HK while on leave), but does not state anything about insurance for this as a requirement. Does anyone carry insurance for this? If so, with whom? Costs?

3. The Philippine Counsel paperwork says I have to show proof of a Performance Bond, a Repatriation Bond, a certificate of Medical Insurance and a Ticket or Ticket Exchange Voucher.

On the two bonds, is it good enough to show that you have $ in a bank account, or do you need to actually post a specific bond? With whom?

For Medical insurance, what firms provide this?

Can a normal travel agent provide a ticket exchange voucher?

[peainpod]

My sympathies! I remember going through all of this when we hired our helper (we didn't go thru an agency) and the paperwork can be quite scary. Anyway, here's what I did:

1) Most banks (HSBC, BEA, Standard Charter, Dao Heng etc) will offer the employee health insurance. Usually there are two types of packages - the basic one covering the essentials and a more comprehensive one which offers some compensation for doctor's visits etc. I would go for the latter, as that is usually where you will most likely claim for. Also they offer 1 and 2-year pkgs and I would go for the two year (ie. duration of the helper's contract) as renewal pckgs tend to cost more than the orig one. After comparison shopping, we went with Dao Heng which had a very cheap 2-yr pckg deal at that time. (I think we paid $550 a year, for a comprehensive pckg with compensation for medical and dental visits.)

2) If you go for the more comprehensive insurance schemes, they will offer some basic coverage for medical expenses (as per above.)

3) The contract requireds you to purchase an open-ended one-way ticket to HK for your helper. I went to one of the travel agents in Worldwide House and bought it there. Tell them you need a TEV (ticket exchange voucher) to show the PHilippine Consulate (it's just an orange piece of paper with some basic travel info) and they'll know what to do. After the Philippine consulate checks it, they will give it back to you and you then have to give to the helper so she can exchange it for an airticket in the Philippines to get to HK.

I don't remember anything about a bond. Perhaps I just brought along my latest original bank statement for them to look at? I'm not really sure about this one.

Good luck!

[aussiegal]

You just need proof of income so whoever is the employer (you or your husband) could get a letter from their employer stating salary and use that. Or a few pay slips i guess. We used a letter. We haven't paid a bond to anyone or anything.

[kiwifi]

on the insurance, if you're purchasing Home Contents insurance there is an add-on you can have to cover Domestic Helpers. It's COMPULSARY in HK to have Employer's Comp for them (it includes cover if say they damage public or someone elses property too) to cover accidents while in your employ,

Our home contents is with MSIG, it covers doctor and dental visits for the helpers too - so it's actually better than MY work medical cover!