Govt should clarify rules for FDH agencies: DAB
The DAB on Monday called on the government to clarify its revised rules on employment agencies, saying they were unclear.  The party's comments came after the Labour Department released a revised code of practice last week which aims to discourage domestic helpers from "job hopping", and to safeguard consumer rights. Speaking at a press briefing, DAB lawmaker Frankie Ngan urged authorities to better stipulate the measure. "The DAB requests the government to do more promotion and education for the agencies, especially as it is a new regulation for them," he said "Could the government implement the instruction for the employer and the employee at the same time to make sure that they deeply understand the new regulation for the agency and the new agreement?" Ngan also called on the government to limit the borrowing capacity of foreign domestic helpers, as he and other DAB party members have received complaints from employers who are frustrated by lenders who pursue the money that helpers failed to pay back before departing from Hong Kong. "We request the government [to] make a financial credit database for those financial institutes to see [how much a] particular domestic helper borrowed," he said. "We request the government to consider, [to] set an upper limit for the borrowing loan to the domestic helpers." The DAB also suggested the government introduce a tax reduction scheme for people hiring foreign domestic helpers to reduce their burden on arranging health checks and training classes for the helpers.