Metro

Foreign maids risk brush with law

By Wang Wen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-25 08:49

While demand for foreign maids is increasing, lawyers are warning would-be employers they could run afoul of the law if they take someone on who does not have a work visa.

"And it is impossible for them to get a work visa," said Jia Keming, director of the exit and entry administration of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

"All foreign maids do not have work visas in China because the Ministry of Labor and Social Security does not recognize housekeeping as a career worthy of a work visa."

Jia said foreign maids working in Beijing usually enter the country on travel or business visas.

He said that makes them illegal workers and, if they are discovered, the government can deport them.

The revelation came in light of the new trend for foreign maids, which have become popular in Beijing. A quick search of the Internet using the Baidu search engine found 6,000 related Web pages and about 10 housekeeping companies serving high-end families in Beijing offering mainly Filipino maids.

"Every day, we receive more than 10 calls inquiring about Filipino maids," said the general manager of one housekeeping company that announced recently it planned to bring a batch of Filipino maids into the country.

The manager, surnamed Yin, said the company told potential clients that the maids would arrive in China in mid-September and more than 20 customers said they would like one.

Yin explained that many Beijingers do not want foreign maids because most do not know how to cook Chinese food, but he said there is still a market for the maids, especially among the 110,000 expats in Beijing and the tens of thousands of Beijingers who have lived overseas.

On the website of another housekeeping company in Beijing, which says it specializes in providing foreign maids, the resumes of 75 overseas maids are shown. Some 56 of the 75 are tagged as having been booked by clients.

A staff member surnamed Li said their foreign maids are mainly from Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines and Vietnam. The staff member said the maids can only be interviewed via the Internet because they are all in their home countries.

Li said the company promises that maids selected for work in China will arrive in Beijing in a month.

"We will take care of the visa. If the client has a company, we can get a business visa for the maid, otherwise it's a travel visa."

In a video on the website, a woman from the Philippines says there is a bright future in Beijing and she wants to work here.

A housekeeping industry insider said there are thousands of foreign maids working for expats or well-off families in Beijing. He said the clients get used to the level of service offered by the foreign maids and language tends not to be a problem because most foreign maids speak English.

A staff member surnamed He at an agency that specializes in providing foreign maids said employers can spend 16,000 to 20,000 yuan before the foreign maids even begin work for their families. The cost includes visas, flight tickets and health examinations.

Foreign maids earn around 3,000 yuan a month.

Liang Feng, a lawyer with the Beijing Dongwei law firm, told the Mirror Evening News that individuals and individual economic organizations are not allowed to hire expats. Citizens, who break the law can be fined between 5,000 and 50,000 yuan.

Liang pointed out that employers are also taking a risk because they cannot easily resort to the courts if their maids damage their property or steal from them.

"Employers cannot demand compensation from foreign maids if disputes arise because their labor relations are illegal," Liang said.

However, Liang said, if employers sign contracts with housekeeping companies, they can ask those companies for compensation. But, Liang added, most housekeeping companies refuse to sign work contracts with employers.

Li, from the housekeeping company in Beijing, said: "We only work as an agency to help clients find foreign maids and work contracts should be signed between employers and employees."

Some would-be employers of foreign maids have stated that worries about visas and legal responsibility have put them off hiring maids from overseas. A woman surnamed Shen, who once thought about hiring a foreign maid, said she gave up on the idea after learning there could be problems obtaining a visa.

"I would not risk hiring a foreign maid if she didn't have a work permit in China," Shen said.

Li Yue'an contributed to the story.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/25/2010)