MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine and Hong Kong governments vowed to provide assistance to the family of a Filipino domestic worker who fell to her death after cleaning the window of her employer’s flat.
Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said Hong Kong’s Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun promised her in a phone call on Thursday night to extend as much assistance as possible to the family of 38-year-old “Lyn.”
“We will extend full assistance and support to her bereaved family while working closely with Secretary Chris Sun and his department to ensure that the principle of ‘safety above all else’ is carried out as part of employers’ obligations,” Ople said.
She also said the Philippines and Hong Kong will be working closely together to prevent a similar incident from happening in the future as she noted that the standard employment contract for domestic workers in the Chinese special administrative region prohibits window cleaning.
Window cleaning is only allowed under the contract when the windows have grills and only the arms of workers can stretch outside.
It is not immediately clear why Lyn was made to clean the window of her employer’s flat when this is not allowed in the standard employment contract.
“Secretary Sun and I discussed the need to remind employers of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong about the prohibition in the standard employment contract on window-cleaning which has been in effect since 2017,” Ople said.
Currently, Lyn’s siblings are in Hong Kong under the care of the Philippine Consulate and the Migrant Workers’ Office to facilitate the repatriation of her remains and hold a meeting with their sister’s employer and the Hong Kong Employees’ Compensation Division. — Xave Gregorio