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| Tsuen Wan courthouse. |
By Vir B. Lumicao
An employment agency was charged in court by the Labour Department on Aug 22 for overcharging a Filipina when she came to work as a domestic helper in Hong Kong last year.
The department’s Employment Agency Administration lodged the case against Jen’s Employment Agency in Tsuen Wan for former helper, Relly Manuel, who flew back to Hong Kong at government’s expense to testify against the agency.
A man identified as the licensee of Jen’s appeared in court for the agency.
Manuel, who was terminated by her employer in March, presented evidence to support her claim that Jen’s charged her fees well above the legally mandated 10% of her first monthly salary.
Testifying in Tsuen Wan court for the prosecution, Manuel claimed that Jen’s had taken out a $12,000 loan in her name from a lending company named Sliver Brighter Ltd but kept the money as her recruitment fee.
The agency then kept Manuel’s passport and work contract and required her to pay $3,000 each for four consecutive months to settle the loan.
She provided the court copies of the four receipts of the monthly payments that Jen’s staff issued her and which were admitted as court exhibits.
Manuel recounted how she was recruited by a partner agency of Jen’s in Ermita, Manila, and deployed to Hong Kong on Aug 24 last year. She began working the next day for Amy Tong at The Bellagio on Castle Peak Road, Sham Tseng.
The helper said she first came to Hong Kong in April 2011 and finished her first work contract, then signed up anew with the same employer but was terminated in Dec 2013 before it was completed, prompting her to return home.
In mid-2015, she again applied for a helper’s job in Hong Kong and this time her employment with Tong was reportedly arranged by Jen’s through Jennifer Cheung. However, she said she was dismissed abruptly by Tong after about six months.
Manuel said she paid the first installment of $3,000 to Jen’s on Oct 11, 2015, and returned on Nov 1 to pay another $3,000 as her second installment. The third payment was made on Nov 22 and the final on Jan 3 this year.
The helper confirmed that all four receipts presented as exhibits were issued by the staff at Jen’s. But she could not say why the receipts were under the name of Silver Brighter Ltd.
The witness also confirmed that it was Jen’s which signed her up for the job but her contract was stamped by Topman Agency.
During cross-examination, the defense lawyer showed Manuel a loan agreement with Silver Brighter purportedly signed by her and stating she had taken out a $12,000 loan which she would be paying in four installments. When the lawyer asked if the signature on the document was hers, Manuel said yes. But asked if she remembered signing a loan agreement, she said no.
Magistrate Lau Suk-han adjourned the hearing to an unspecified date.
