Maid wins HK$26,000 claim for ‘illegal wage deductions’

A Filipino domestic worker won a claim of HK$26,000 (US$3,313) against her employer for making illegal deductions from her salary.

Ariane Dimacali, 28, had her claim for HK$25,926 granted by the Labour Tribunal late last month after her employer Lau Wo-ying failed to appear for the hearing, sunwebhk.com reported on Wednesday.

Dimacali said she suffered mistreatment from her employer, who reportedly made deductions from her salary if there was any wasted food at home.

On November 13 last year, Dimacali was accused of stealing a necklace worth HK$170,000 (US$21,660) from her employer’s daughter Ng Sze-wai and fired without notice or her remaining salary.

Dimacali said she may have accidentally dropped the necklace in a garbage bin when she was removing crumpled tissues from her bag.

On the same day that Dimacali was fired, Ng filed a case against Dimacali for theft, but it was dismissed by the police in January.

As Lau did not attend the first hearing of the claim and failed to appear at the second hearing, the Labour Tribunal granted Dimacali’s claim of HK$25,926.

The claim covers one month’s salary of HK$4,310 in lieu of notice, unpaid wages of $5,244, total salary deductions of $9,103, a one-way plane ticket worth $1,115, a travel allowance of $100, severance pay of $6,046 and a visa extension costing $190.