Hiring Foreign Domestic Helpers (FDHs)

You need to be a Hong Kong resident with a monthly household income of no less than HK$15,000 or assets of comparable amount to support the expenses for the entire (i.e. 2 years) contractual period.

• You can recruit an FDH through an agency or directly via personal ads or referrals.
• You must enter into a Standard Employment Contract as specified by the Director of Immigration and apply to the Immigration Department for an employment visa for the helper.

• Wages: You should pay a salary that is no less than the Minimum Allowable Wage (MAW) announced by the Government and prevailing at the date of signing the employment contract for employing the FDH. MAW is currently set at HK$4,870 per month.
• Accommodation and food: You must provide the helper with suitable accommodation and with reasonable privacy, free food (or food allowance in lieu, which is HK$1,236 per month at present) and free passage from the helper’s home country to Hong Kong and return to the home country on termination or expiry of the contract. The above levels of MAW and food allowance are applicable to all contracts signed on or after 30 September 2023.
• Insurance: As stipulated in the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), an employer must take out insurance policy to cover his/her liability both under the Ordinance and at common law for injury at work in respect of an employee.
• Medical treatment: You are required to provide the helper with free medical treatment under the Standard Employment Contract when he/she is ill or suffers personal injury during the period of employment. You are therefore strongly advised to take out an insurance policy with full medical and hospitalisation coverage for the helper. You may also consider taking out a comprehensive insurance policy which provides medical and hospitalisation coverage and satisfies the requirement under the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance at the same time.

• An FDH should only perform domestic duties for the employer's residence specified in the contract.
• Restrictions on the duties of an FDH: The employer should not require or allow the helper to carry out any work for any other person, otherwise, the helper and/or any aider and abettor will be liable to criminal prosecution.
• Application for Special Permission for Performance of Motor Driving Duties by FDHs

• As an employer, you must observe the statutory obligations under the Hong Kong laws.
• FDHs are entitled to the same benefits and protection under the labour laws as their local counterparts. For details, please refer to FAQs about labour legislation and Publications on employment of FDHs by the Labour Department, and A guide for FDHs and their employers by the Equal Opportunities Commission.
• Q&A on reporting FDHs' income for taxation

If you decide to terminate the employment contract of your FDH, you should notify the Immigration Department through online submission or in writing within seven days of the date of termination.