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Working parents don't want a helper

  1. #9
    Gracey is offline Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    534

    JoMcK - No, our set-up is not technically legal. But it's common. And I don't see anything wrong with it, as we are covering all her room and board. If anything, helpers have a much higher quality of living if they are living out, as it gives them privacy and time off.
    Her food costs are part of her HK $3000 living allowance. (The legal minimum for a food allowance is something like $920). Her share of their studio flat is $2000.
    We are also quite easy-going about food at home. Our helper is here from 8am to 8pm, sometimes later if we go out for dinner. And while she does cooks breakfast and dinner in her own home -- and sometimes packs lunch -- we obviously do not expect her to go 12, 13 hours with only one meal.
    We tell her she is welcome to the basic food in our home - a tea or coffee in the morning, or maybe some of the rice, pasta, etc, she cooks for our child. Usually she eats her own stuff, but we're not fascists about it. If there's a special birthday or holiday, we invite her to share some cake with us.


  2. #10
    Gracey is offline Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    534

    JoMcK - Be very clear with both the agency and the helper that you want someone live-out.
    The live-out must WANT to live out. Some do not, as they prefer the security of being at home.
    You also want someone who is quite independent, savvy, and knows HK. You don't want some young girl fresh from the Philippines / Indonesia, who has no idea how to survive in this city, and leave her to the mercy of HK landlords and "boarding houses."
    The best option is to find a veteran helper -- probably someone who has worked with HK expat families before -- you has lived out before.


  3. #11
    JoMcK is offline Registered User
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Posts
    21

    Thank you Gracey for all the info very helpful!


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