The Labour Department today reminded foreign domestic helpers that group gatherings in public places will be prohibited starting March 29.

The department noted that the Government announced today that a notice will be issued in the Gazette to prohibit group gatherings of more than four people in public places from midnight on March 29 for 14 days.

The notice is made in accordance with the Prevention & Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) Regulation.

The department reminded employers and foreign helpers to observe and comply with the regulation and notice, and appealed to them to avoid social activities on their rest days and stay at home as much as possible.

Employers and foreign helpers may consider discussing rest day arrangements between themselves, including substituting another rest day, to avoid the health risk of participating in social activities.

The department also appealed to employers to explain the current special circumstances when discussing rest day arrangements with their foreign helpers and called for their mutual understanding in joining hands to fight the virus.

An employer who compels his/her foreign helper to work on a rest day without the helper’s agreement, or fails to grant rest days to the helper is in breach of the Employment Ordinance and is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, a maximum fine of $50,000.

For health advice on the prevention of pneumonia and respiratory tract infection, visit the Centre for Health Protection’s dedicated webpage where information in Chinese, English, Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia, Thai, Hindi, Sinhala, Bengali, Nepali and Urdu are available.

Enquiries on foreign helper employment matters can be made to the department via email or an online form.