An employment agency based in Hong Kong has been suspended by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office for failing to act on a complaint by a Filipino domestic worker after her employer reportedly failed to include her luggage in her return ticket home.
Under the standard domestic worker contract, while employers are required to pay for the return flight of their helpers, it is unclear whether they are also obliged to pay for luggage allowance. This is assuming that domestic workers returning home will be bringing with them extra luggage.
A source at the government labor agency said that they were being strict after receiving several complaints from Filipino domestic workers that employers refuse to pay for their luggage when buying their plane ticket home.
“They could get suspended over that $200 (payment for luggage allowance). When the standard employment contract was formulated, we did not have budget airlines and so it was understood that buying an airline ticket also included the luggage,” the source said, reminding that employment agencies should notify employers to pay for the luggage allowance of domestic workers or else these agencies would also be suspended.
“But now that we have budget airlines, and there is an option that the passenger would only have hand-carry luggage, there are employers who are choosing that option. That should stop,” she added.
The Philippine Consulate General, the source said, will raise the issue in the next technical working group meeting with HK government officials.
Filipino domestic workers whose employers did not pay for their luggage allowance can call the POLO at 5529-1880 or 6345-9324 and file a complaint.
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