Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong facing more expenses as new law forces them to make social security contributions back home

Hong Kong’s Filipino domestic workers have been hit with another mandatory fee by their home government, a week after vowing to fight against a plan to make domestic helpers take out insurance costing HK$1,200 (US$153) before heading abroad.

Under a bill passed last week by the Philippine legislature, the helpers would be required to pay about 2,400 Philippine pesos, or about HK$350 a month, for social insurance that provides retirement and health benefits through the country’s Social Security System (SSS) from next year. The amount is equivalent to 8 per cent of a helper’s wage of HK$4,520 a month.

Last week, Filipino workers’ groups in Hong Kong vowed to fight tooth and nail against a plan by Manila’s Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to make domestic helpers take out insurance.

The twin fees come on top of a slew of existing charges totalling about 26,000 pesos (about HK$3,800) that helpers must pay to government agencies before they can even take up jobs abroad, said chairwoman of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, Dolores Balladares-Pelaez.

“It’s a big concern among overseas Filipino workers. It is outrageous and worrying that workers will pay for the new exactions,” she said, adding that the group was consulting lawyers on possibly filing a temporary restraining order against the SSS bill.

Balladares-Pelaez said a few members of Unifil had told her they had been forced to pay the new fees despite Manila saying the fees could not be enforced before relevant rules are drawn up.

“We have members who have changed employers and could not get an Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) unless they pay the POEA insurance premium and SSS fee,” she said.