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Opinion | Why Hong Kong’s domestic helpers have no reason to celebrate maternity leave increase
- The maternity leave increase could exacerbate the risks for foreign domestic workers, who are all too often sacked illegally while pregnant or pressured to resign
- Employers need clear guidelines and solutions for when their domestic workers go on maternity leave
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For many working women in Hong Kong, the increase in maternity leave from December 11, from 10 to 14 weeks, will be a reason to celebrate. This alignment with the International Labour Organisation’s minimum standard will give many working women more time with their newborns.
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All working women in Hong Kong, without exception, are entitled to maternity leave. But, in practice, pregnant migrant domestic workers are all too often illegally terminated from their jobs or pressured to resign, simply because they or their employers don’t know what else to do.
The maternity leave increase risks exacerbating this. How do employers do the right thing while managing the financial stress of maternity leave payments and expensive temporary help? And how do domestic workers keep their jobs while exercising their basic right to motherhood?
As a working mother, I know how reliant we are on our domestic workers. On the rare occasions when our domestic worker is on sick leave, my husband and I struggle to juggle our full-time jobs and the needs of our young family.
With the pandemic-related school closures, it would have been impossible for us to continue working without our domestic worker. I have no idea how we would function for 14 weeks.
02:02
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When employers learn that their domestic worker is pregnant, their minds, understandably, race with questions: my husband and I work full-time, how will my family manage while she is on maternity leave? Can she cope with caring for my young children while pregnant? Will I be able to keep my job if I have to take time off frequently?
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