How can I encourage my helper to manage her money properly?

There are several ways in which you can encourage your helper to manage her own money:

Provide Access to Education

Financial education is preventative and can provide future protection for your helper and even yourself - a helper who is financially literate can avoid common financial traps, focus on her priorities and ensure a harmonious working relationship with you. Sponsor your helper to attend our financial and empowerment education programmes so that she can learn to budget, save and plan for her future. Our workshops are tailored to domestic helpers’ needs and delivered in English, Tagalog and Bahasa Indonesia.

Give her simple daily financial responsibilities

Think of small ways through which she can practice financial management during her daily work. For example, you could task her with managing the grocery money. This is a way of allowing her to learn about money management in an accountable way, but without encroaching on her private life. 

Encourage her to think long-term

She might be focusing on the next phone call to her family or her activities next Sunday, but you can encourage her to plan for the next several years instead. Ask her what her goals are for the future, and how she plans to achieve them. Encourage her to think of setting aside a small amount each month towards those goals.

Ensure she has a bank account 

Some banks in Hong Kong are not very welcoming when approached by helpers so you may find it helpful to accompany her to the bank to open an account. Always pay her salary by bank transfer. You can encourage your helper to open a second bank account and have an automatic transfer from her main bank account (where her salary is transferred to) to this second one for savings. 

Although we do not advise any particular bank, you can check out our handy comparison table of different banks and their requirements.