Moratorium on sending helpers

Written By Allan Smith

A trade group of Philippine recruitment agencies ​known as SHARP have organized a moritorium on sending helpers to Hong Kong. (Arrow & its partner MRH are not part of SHARP) At issue is the Philippine government policy of "zero placement" fee. That means the Philippine government believes that HK employers should bear the full cost of deploying workers to HK. Because the cost of doing business in HK is high (salaries & rent) - you should expect to pay more than $10,000 to hire a helper. We could ask the helper's to pay part of the fee in Hong Kong, so that they wouldn't be in violation of Philippine laws, but the Hong Kong government says that agencies here can't receive more than 1/10 of one month's salary.  The only recourse seems to be to charge a ridiculously high fee to the employer. 

Historical note: the Philippine government passed the zero placement fee policy in 2007 AFTER HK implemented the 10% policy. They felt if HK only allows agents to receive 10% then we must do better than that - so ZERO PLACEMENT FEE POLICY.

How can this situation be resolved? Any ideas?​

​

Allan Smith

Allan Smith is the owner of Arrow Employment Services in Hong Kong. Hiring a helper from another country and culture is difficult and misunderstandings are common. Our goal is to help you “find and keep a good helper”. If you are looking for work, our goal is to “help you find and keep a good job”. We help you navigate the often difficult employer - employee relationship.

http://arrowes.hk
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