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Domestic helper management

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  1. #31

    For Pete’s sake, we are talking about a period of a few weeks (hopefully) under historically unusual circumstances in HK. Paying someone to rest at home and giving them the option to come out with us to beach/country park. It’s not exactly locking sleeping beauty in a tower. Even if we follow the moralising about doing our own housework, that doesn’t address the immediate situation. OK have a nice day.

    lolone likes this.

  2. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrgoodkat:
    Yes, that is exactly what some people here are. A bunch of pants shitting hypochondriacs. The risk of dying from the coronavirus is lower than the risk of dying in a car crash and I don't see people being scared of crossing the road.
    Well at least that is a change from "dying from the flu". Still idiotic but a different idiocy.

  3. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    Well at least that is a change from "dying from the flu". Still idiotic but a different idiocy.
    there are about 3 times as many flu deaths as traffic fatalities in HK (It's about equal in China), but you are entitled to live your life in a hazmat suit. So far there have been pretty much exactly 357 times as many people died from the flu in HK as from the coronavirus. OH MA GERD WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE!!!1111
    periphery831 likes this.

  4. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrgoodkat:
    there are about 3 times as many flu deaths as traffic fatalities in HK (It's about equal in China), but you are entitled to live your life in a hazmat suit. So far there have been pretty much exactly 357 times as many people died from the flu in HK as from the coronavirus. OH MA GERD WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE!!!1111
    I don't even have a mask. Still idiotic for all the reasons that have been given before every time this argument is proposed.

  5. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by hksomewhere:
    I regret starting this thread as some people seem to think that we are living under normal circumstances, and conflate behaviours of oppressive employers that are not at issue here.
    We are not self-absorbed hypochondriacs. We are parents of young children, one with severe asthma who has been hospitalized several times for respiratory issues. We have no tolerance for avoidable behavior that would put our kids at higher risk. To be clear, we are not sending her out to do daily groceries, whilst preventing her from going out on Sundays. We are not even preventing her, we are offering a financial incentive to take a day off at home. We have not been taking crowded public transportation ourselves or going to crowded places.

    For many reasons that I didn't enumerate (as I don't consider relevant to the scenario), we don't have the highest opinion of our helper's character, but continue to hire her since she does her job efficiently. If she were to spend full days out at a time like this and come back sick, it doesn't help us with our remaining trust. Nice that people are so concerned about employment justice, but some temporary concern for health would also be nice.
    Then a helper isn't for you. You cannot change the fact that a helper is a living person with their own needs and freedoms and that with the requirements they must live with you.

    You cannot have your cake and eat it, too.

    If you don't want another person bringing possible disease into your home - fair enough - then it's YOUR responsibility and choice not to employ a person! But if you choose to employ a living person, you must respect their own mental health, freedom, and needs for a little space from their employer.

    Maybe offer to pay for a hotel for her for two weeks.

    It seems like you want the sacrifice to be on her, not you.
    Last edited by Elegiaque; 12-02-2020 at 09:39 AM.

  6. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    I don't even have a mask. Still idiotic for all the reasons that have been given before every time this argument is proposed.
    I was just at the supermarket and sneezed.

  7. #37

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    You are her employer. If the terms of employment with you now require her to wash her hands and take this health situation seriously, then sit her down and tell her that. Explain that her job is dependent on it.

    If she continues to be lax on hygiene and you have other concerns then you decide to let her go or not.

    I don't think the issue is her staying in or not on Sunday. It's that you don't trust that she is grasping the risks she could be introducing into your home. Deal with the trust issue first and leave her day off as it is.


  8. #38

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    Quote Originally Posted by hksomewhere:
    For Pete’s sake, we are talking about a period of a few weeks (hopefully) under historically unusual circumstances in HK. Paying someone to rest at home and giving them the option to come out with us to beach/country park. It’s not exactly locking sleeping beauty in a tower. Even if we follow the moralising about doing our own housework, that doesn’t address the immediate situation. OK have a nice day.
    Employment law is there for a very good reason. HK has some of the worst (lowest) employment laws in a developed society and even lower for domestic helpers and you want to break it because 0.0003% of the population are in quarantine in Hong Kong...

    Being out and about is not really a risk. Poor hygiene is more of a risk

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    Last edited by East_coast; 12-02-2020 at 09:56 AM.

  9. #39

    and of course they go outside to reunite with their friends or family, thats the only day that they will feel at home.


  10. #40

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    @hksomewhere if either parent isn't working, take the kids to some home country and just stay there for a while. Then there's only one adult at home, in addition to the helper. Much easier to control the already minuscule risk of infection. If both parents are working and the children are old enough, then still take them to another country and leave them with grandparents.