Author
Bowtie Team
Updated on
2025-11-24
Employees’ Compensation Insurance for Employees Is A MUST
According to the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282 of the Laws of Hong Kong), all employers must purchase employees’ compensation insurance to cover their legal responsibilities for employees’ injuries from work-related accidents and occupational diseases. This also includes domestic helpers from overseas, so employers hiring helpers must buy this insurance for them.
What’s the Difference Between Domestic Helper Insurance and Employees’ Compensation Insurance?
You might be wondering if domestic helper insurance is the same as employees’ compensation insurance. Well, they’re quite different! Employees’ compensation insurance doesn’t cover general medical expenses for illnesses. However, as per the Labour Department’s regulations, if your helper gets sick or injured during their employment—whether it’s work-related or not—you, as the employer, must provide free medical care, including consultation fees, hospitalization costs, and emergency dental treatment.
On top of that, your helper might cause third-party liability claims while working, like accidentally dropping something from a window during cleaning or hanging laundry, which could injure someone or damage property. These kinds of risks are usually covered under domestic helper insurance.
By now, savvy readers probably get it: While basic employees’ compensation insurance meets the legal minimum, it doesn’t fully protect you from all potential liabilities. For instance, if your helper has an accident or needs surgery, you could be looking at tens of thousands of dollars in costs—that’s just the starting point. So, as an employer, getting a suitable domestic helper insurance policy can help lighten that financial load and shield you from shouldering all the risks alone.
Employees’ compensation insurance is the essential legal safeguard, while domestic helper insurance builds on that by adding extra protections. In domestic helper insurance policies, you’ll often see coverage up to HK$100 million per incident (wording might vary by policy), and don’t be surprised by that high amount—it’s actually required by employees’ compensation regulations.
Which Insurance Do Full-time, Overseas Full-time, and Part-time Helpers Need?
When it comes to household helpers, not everyone hires full-time ones—especially if you don’t have kids to look after, you might just get part-time help for cleaning and tidying up. But many people overlook their responsibilities here without a second thought.
Under Section 40 of the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance, all employers must buy employees’ compensation insurance to cover their legal obligations, regardless of the contract length, hours worked, full-time or part-time status, or whether it’s a permanent or temporary role. That means you have to get employees’ compensation insurance for any part-time local
domestic assistants you hire.
In other words, if you’re directly hiring an individual for part-time work through a referral, you definitely need to buy employees’ compensation insurance. Plus, with some intermediary platforms that connect you to part-timers, those workers are often independent contractors with no employment relationship to the platform, so you’ll still need to provide coverage for them.
However, if you’re using a domestic helper agency that provides services with different workers each time, it’s a bit of a gray area, and it’s not practical to keep updating the insured person on your policy every time. Your best bet is to clarify the responsibilities with the agency.
Beyond the mandatory employees’ compensation insurance, whether to get more comprehensive domestic helper insurance is up to you as the employer. But if you’re hiring a full-time overseas helper, it’s a smart move to go for it—it adds an extra layer of protection for both your helper and yourself.
Main Coverage Items of Domestic Helper Insurance
Domestic helper insurance mainly covers outpatient, inpatient, and dental services. Outpatient refers to the costs of visiting a clinic or hospital outpatient department; inpatient covers hospitalization and surgery-related expenses; dental coverage is typically limited to oral surgery, abscess treatment, X-rays, tooth extraction, or fillings. Keep in mind that costs like oral examinations, teeth cleaning, grinding, and dentures are mostly not covered.
Integrity protection is another key coverage item worth noting, as it safeguards employers from direct financial losses due to the domestic helper’s fraudulent or dishonest actions, such as theft. This includes expenses for unauthorized long-distance phone use by foreign helpers and costs for the employer to replace locks and gates afterward.
As for third-party liability, scenarios like the cost of repatriating a foreign domestic helper in case of accidental death (due to the helper’s unfortunate passing or health issues making them unfit to continue), or expenses for hiring a replacement, are rare but possible. Remember, it’s always better to be prepared—just in case—so comparing options is a smart move.
How to Compare Domestic Helper Insurance? Does It Cover Critical Illness?
When comparing different domestic helper insurance policies, price is undoubtedly the top factor. You should check how much coverage you get for the same premium and whether there is Deductible.
Additionally, policy terms are crucial—for instance, with outpatient coverage, the maximum total reimbursement and daily limits vary between plans, and some might not include traditional Chinese medicine or injury treatments. For inpatient claims, certain policies break down surgery costs into specific items like surgeon fees, anesthetist fees, and operating room charges, rather than a flat rate per procedure, which can make a big difference in payouts, so always read the fine print.
What’s more, while most domestic helper insurance includes general medical coverage, it might not cover critical illnesses, leaving you unprotected for serious conditions like heart disease or cancer. Employers should compare if critical illness coverage is included or how much extra it costs to add it, and decide if it’s worth it.
On a side note, most domestic helper insurance policies have a waiting period, usually around 14 days. If you’re hiring a new helper, it’s wise to opt for plans with shorter waiting periods or ask your insurer if they can shorten it.
- *The premiums calculated above are for reference only; your actual premiums may vary due to factors like time, inflation, underwriting, and will include the levy charged by the Insurance Authority.
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