FDH files case against employer over physical and verbal abuse

File photo of the Labour Department building.

A Filipina domestic helper filed a complaint against her employer at the Labour Department on Dec. 10 over alleged non-payment of complete wages, maltreatment and physical abuse.

Janice A. told Hong Kong News that she terminated her contract on Dec.7 after her employer reportedly punched her and called her denigrating names, including “monkey.”

Janice said her medical reports showed she sustained a bruise after her employer, a Japanese woman, purportedly hit her.

She was also allegedly not paid for the times she was made to work during her day-off from May to early December 2019.

“Bale mga $9,000 din po yung ‘di nabayad sa akin pag pinagtratabaho ako ‘pag day-off,” she said in an interview on Dec.12.

Her employer has brought her a plane ticket so she could go back to the Philippines, but Janice said she decided to stay and file a complaint especially because she also reportedly endured seven months of verbal abuse.

“Sabi po niya mga Pinay daw, prostitute of the world,” she said.

“Naglakas-loob po ako mag-file ng complaint kasi kailangan rin po matigil na,” she explained, adding that she does not want other Filipinas like her to suffer alleged similar abuse from the said employer.

Her complaint has been lodged at the Labour Relations Division, which handles the conciliation process.  The first hearing of her case is scheduled on Jan. 6,2020.

Aside from filing a complaint at the Hong Kong Labour Department, she also went to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office which has the authority to blacklist abusive employers.