'Maid Agency Promises Getting Lost In Translation'

The Consumer Council has raised concerns about the practices of some domestic helper employment agencies that match families with maids, including the use of cue cards during job interviews via video link so helpers can pretend they understand Cantonese.

The council said in one case, an Indonesian helper who appeared to be able to communicate in Cantonese during a video interview turned out not to understand even the most basic words like “cook”, “clean” and “laundry”.

The helper said during the interview that she was provided with translations of the questions and a pronunciation guide for the Cantonese answers from behind the camera.

In another case, one employer paid more than HK$10,000 upfront to an agency which promised a “100 percent refund” if clients weren't satisfied. But it was only when the employer failed to find a suitable helper that they realised there were many terms and conditions prohibiting a refund.

The council said on Wednesday that they get around 200 complaints a year about such companies, with the most serious alleging deliberate attempts to mislead clients about helpers’ skills and language abilities.

The council, however, said the complaints were so diverse that even after its intervention they could not be satisfactorily resolved.

Council chief executive Gilly Wong said the authorities need to step up supervision and enforcement action.

“We also understand the Labour Department has already issued a code for employment agencies to follow, but it seems like the compliance with this code is not as good as we want it to be,” she said.

“And also, from the enforcement side, that requires probably more stringent enforcement, to ensure that the employment agencies are accountable for what they are delivering right now,” she added.