Domestic helpers being charged nearly 60pc more in excessive agency fees, union says

The amount of overcharging intermediary fees for foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) has increased by 56 percent in the past one and a half years, according to the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions.

The Unions have received 57 cases of FDHs being charged excessive intermediary fees by the agencies from January last year to this May, with the average overcharge fee at about HK$19,000.

That represented an increase of more than half from the overcharging amount in 2021, which was about HK$12,000.

Among them, 90 percent of victims were Indonesian workers, while some FDHs even had their personal documents confiscated by the agencies.

The Unions urged the government to strengthen enforcement and penalties for violations while improving the investigative capability of the Employment Agencies Administration of the Labour Department.

A lawful agency fee in Hong Kong should be only 10 percent of the domestic worker’s monthly salary.