Expecting and expendable? Pregnant domestic workers in Hong Kong still vulnerable to dismissal

HONG KONG: At five months pregnant, Daisy (name changed to protect privacy), a Filipino domestic worker, was suddenly forced out of her employer’s home in Hong Kong, leaving her feeling utterly alone and terrified.

“I felt so scared as I was pregnant and I had no family or friends here I could turn to,” she said, her voice trembling as she recounted the ordeal over the phone from the Philippines.

Daisy, 32, had come to Hong Kong in 2023 to work for a couple with a seven-year-old son. She became pregnant last December while visiting her family in the Philippines. Everything seemed manageable until May, when her employers began pressuring her to end her contract. When she refused, they told her to leave immediately.

Legally, Hong Kong protects employees from being fired for pregnancy, but activists say domestic workers are confronted with obstacles in getting legal assistance, and the entire proceeding is exhausting in itself as it can drag on for months, leaving these household maids helpless and harassed.

With backing from a homegrown NGO, Daisy filed claims with labour officials for salaries not paid and for maternity leave. After about two months, her claims were resolved, but the emotional toll lingered.

Daisy’s story is far from unique. Supporters caution that numerous expectant domestic helpers in Hong Kong are obliged to choose between losing employment, being detached from their children, or involuntarily getting access to risky abortions because of the city’s “live-in” employment guidelines.

The issue drew wider attention in August, when police arrested 11 domestic workers in connection with illegal abortion pills and procedures.

Stephanie Kwok Chi-ying, senior caseworker at PathFinders, an NGO supporting pregnant migrant workers, said fear of dismissal is a pervasive barrier. Last year, 42% of the pregnant helpers her organisation assisted lost their jobs.

Under Hong Kong law, domestic helpers are entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave and can access public healthcare, including prenatal and postnatal check-ups, and affordable hospital deliveries. However, employers are not mandated to shoulder pregnancy-related expenditures, leaving countless workers to be financially pressured, psychologically harassed, and emotionally anxious.

What the likes of Daisy have undergone highlights the risks and dangers for innumerable migrant workers, who have to exert effort to secure legal safeguards and manage their defenselessness as they carry the lives of the unborn babies inside their bodies.