Migrant workers in Hong Kong are vulnerable to abuse, as the recent horrific stories about abused maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih and two murdered Indonesian sex workers showed. But they could be made safer by one simple step: remove the burden of illegal debt they owe to agencies that place them with employers.

These agencies often charge exorbitant fees, manipulate situations to keep the women in debt, and even confiscate passports. This makes it difficult for the women to walk away from abusive employers. Now, a new enterprise co-founded by Mr David Bishop, Principal Lecturer in the School of Business, is providing help – and also a teaching opportunity for HKU students.

The Fair Employment Agency (FEA) is a social enterprise agency that charges employers but not helpers a fee for the search and paperwork involved. Everything is transparent so helpers do not start with debt, and employers are matched with helpers who can meet their needs, such as experience with children or the elderly.

“I’ve worked on domestic helper issues for a long time and I wanted to do something that would address the problem of agency fees from a prevention perspective,” Mr Bishop said. “I am also interested in building a business model that employs students and provides them with leadership training because they do not get many opportunities to lead and do things that are challenging.”

FEA had its soft opening in September, 2014 and has already secured enough clients and donations to break even. Multinational corporations are particularly interested because many of their staff employ domestic helpers and the issue touches on corporate social responsibility.

Learning in the real world

Students have played a central role in developing the business, under the guidance of Mr Bishop, former Asia Regional CEO of Grameen Bank Ms Jennifer Meehan, former consultant Ms Tammy Balz and American finance graduate Mr Scott Stiles. About 45 students have participated so far as part of a credit-bearing social venture internship course. They hold senior positions in FEA, such as directors of marketing, human resources and information technology, and do hands-on work such as talking with domestic workers and consular staff and creating publications and videos.

Ms Kate Chan, a third-year BBA(Law) student, said she gained a fresh perspective on business. “In class, we usually learn from successful examples like Apple, not start-ups and small businesses. Here we had to get our hands dirty. I had to write a business plan and approach different foundations seeking funds. Instead of looking at examples from the past, I had to look to the future,” she said.

Their efforts also had to function in the real world, said Ms Vivian Seo, a second-year BBA(Acc&Fin) student. “The marketing materials we made were used at the official launch [in February] and I had to learn how to open a press conference. We also used a lot of social media, which may seem obvious but you have to know when to tweet and when to re-tweet, and you have to get the terms right. We are really part of the business.”

Thousands of migrant domestic helpers in Hong Kong spending their holidays with friends and relatives in Central every Sunday.

Bettering society

Mr Bishop also wanted students to realise they could make a positive change in society. “We’re trying to provide a platform that is not only a successful social business, but also shows you don’t have to focus only on the bottom line because the aim of business is to make society better.”

The message came through loud and clear for Mr Jeremy Lam, a third-year BBA(IBGM) student: “Before I did this, I thought social ventures were about hiring underprivileged people. Now I see that business can do much more – you can establish a whole market and start to eliminate ethical problems in society.”

FEA itself has bigger visions beyond helping Hong Kong’s migrant workers. There are millions of migrant workers in Asia labouring in such industries as construction, hospitality and entertainment, many of them at risk of exploitation through such practices as illegal placement fees. Mr Bishop said they had ambitions to help them, too.

In the meantime, they are focussed on making FEA succeed and reaching out to governments. The February launch included representatives from the Hong Kong, Indonesian, Philippine and Thai governments. “We have proven our model can work and now it needs to grow and expand. It’s not something we expect to make money from, but in five or 10 years’ time, people will ask why we didn’t do this before,” he said.