https://kaia.help/en/blog/ News and plain explanations for helpers in Hong Kong and the families they work for. en https://kaia.help/en/blog/wage-review-2026/ https://kaia.help/en/blog/wage-review-2026/ Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT The Government has announced the 2026 review. For contracts signed on or after {{newFrom}}, the Minimum Allowable Wage for foreign domestic helpers is {{newMaw}} a month (it was {{prevMaw}}, {{change}}), and the food allowance, where food is not provided free, is at least {{newFood}}. https://kaia.help/en/guides/ticket-home/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/ticket-home/ Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT The ticket home is not a favour and it is not a negotiation: it is in the contract you both signed. Here is who pays for what, when it falls due, and the one thing the law leaves open. https://kaia.help/en/guides/ending-a-contract/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/ending-a-contract/ Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Ending the contract is a handful of steps with dates attached, and doing them in order is what keeps it from becoming a claim. Here they are, with a letter you can copy at the end. https://kaia.help/en/guides/mpf/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/mpf/ Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT The short answer is no, and it holds for every domestic helper in Hong Kong, foreign or local. Here is the rule, and what it means for the money at the end of the job. https://kaia.help/en/guides/retraining-levy/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/retraining-levy/ Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Employers still ask about the levy, and agencies still put it on invoices. It does not exist any more. Here is the position, in one page. https://kaia.help/en/guides/first-time-employer/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/first-time-employer/ Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Employing a foreign domestic helper is employing someone under Hong Kong law, with a government contract that sets the minimum. Here is what that means for a first-time employer, step by step. https://kaia.help/en/guides/termination/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/termination/ Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT If your contract ends early — whoever ends it — you are owed money, and there are dates to know. Here is what you are owed and what to do, step by step. https://kaia.help/en/guides/long-service-severance/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/long-service-severance/ Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Two lump sums can be owed when a long job ends. Which one — if either — depends on how long you worked and why it ended. https://kaia.help/en/guides/free-calculators-compared/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/free-calculators-compared/ Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Several free tools will work out a helper’s pay, leave or final settlement. They are not all built for the same person. Here is what each one does. https://kaia.help/en/guides/contract-renewal/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/contract-renewal/ Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Renewing with the same employer is routine, but the dates matter. Here is when to apply, what to send, and what changes with the new contract. https://kaia.help/en/guides/statutory-holidays/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/statutory-holidays/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Every foreign domestic helper in Hong Kong is entitled to every statutory holiday. If your employer needs you to work one, they must give you another day off — they cannot pay you instead. https://kaia.help/en/guides/rest-days/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/rest-days/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT You are entitled to at least one rest day in every seven days: a continuous 24 hours in which you do not have to work. Your employer cannot make you work on it. https://kaia.help/en/guides/annual-leave/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/annual-leave/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT After every 12 months with the same employer, you are entitled to paid annual leave: 7 days at first, rising by a day a year from your third year, to 14 days. https://kaia.help/en/guides/sick-leave/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/sick-leave/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT You earn paid sickness days for every month you work, and your employer must pay for your medical treatment. Sick leave is paid when it lasts four days or more and you have a medical certificate. https://kaia.help/en/guides/maternity/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/maternity/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT A helper who becomes pregnant has the same maternity protection as any employee in Hong Kong: 14 weeks of leave, maternity pay, and protection from being dismissed. https://kaia.help/en/guides/agency-fees/ https://kaia.help/en/guides/agency-fees/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT A Hong Kong employment agency may charge a job-seeker at most 10% of her first month’s wages — and only after she has received them. Anything more is illegal. https://kaia.help/en/blog/contract-date-decides-your-wage/ https://kaia.help/en/blog/contract-date-decides-your-wage/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Two helpers on the same street can have different legal minimums. The reason is the date on their contracts. https://kaia.help/en/blog/payday-checklist/ https://kaia.help/en/blog/payday-checklist/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Two minutes on payday can save months of argument later. Here is what to check each time you are paid. https://kaia.help/en/blog/why-a-counter-signed-payslip/ https://kaia.help/en/blog/why-a-counter-signed-payslip/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most helpers in Hong Kong are paid every month and keep nothing that shows it. We built Kaia to change that one small thing.