A Filipina domestic worker who was fired by her employer after being diagnosed with cancer settled a labor claim for HK$30,000 (US$3,826) at the Labor Tribunal on Monday.
Labour Tribunal principal presiding officer Eric Tam awarded that amount to Baby Jane Allas, 38, who has cervical cancer, after a representative of her former Pakistani employer, Jamil Bushra, agreed to the payment, Sing Tao Daily reported.
The settlement covered unpaid wages, a month’s salary in lieu of notice, a return air ticket, travel allowance and half-day payment for days off not fully spent.
She initially asked for HK$46,383 from her former employer but later agreed to the $30,000 settlement.
Interviewed after the hearing, Allas, a single mother of five children, said she was not happy with the settlement and would pursue a case with the Equal Opportunities Commission against the former employer for violating the discrimination ordinance.
Allas urged other foreign domestic workers who have “suffered at the hands of their employers” to come forward and file a complaint.
“I am standing here now to encourage more workers to come out if they have these kinds [of problems],” she told reporters outside the tribunal after the hearing while surrounded by her family and supporters, hongkongnews.com reported.
During the hearing, the presiding officer Tam advised the family to re-hire the worker without pay so she could use public healthcare services as a Hong Kong citizen. But the family rejected the suggestion.
The employer did not appear at the Labour Tribunal hearing on Monday, saying that she is pregnant. The representative, her brother-in-law, said the family sympathized with Allas’ diagnosis. They terminated the contract as Jamil was pregnant and her father was also ill.
Allas was fired in January while she was on sick leave after she was diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer. She said she also suffered while working for the former employer.
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