Terms of Use

Please read these terms and conditions carefully as you are agreeing to our terms, when you use our services and products. This is a legally binding agreement, so make sure you understand it.

HelperChoice is an online platform that helps employers and domestic helpers to connect. Our services and products are designed to facilitate with the entire domestic helper recruitment process. By using our services as a guest or by signing up to access the platform and our services, you enter into a legally binding agreement with HelperChoice.

HelperChoice offers two types of accounts for its members; ‘employer’ and ‘helper’ accounts. An ‘employer’ account enables those eligible individuals to use our services to search for a domestic helper while a ‘helper’ account enables those eligible job-seekers to use our services to seek for employment.

HelperChoice does not charge helpers any placement fee or commission.

Eligibility

To use the HelperChoice website and our services as a domestic helper, you must be of minimum working age in the country where you are looking for jobs, and of minimum age for hiring in the country where you reside.
To use the HelperChoice Website and our services as an employer, you must agree to follow the laws and regulations in your residing country in terms of hiring and employing a domestic helper.
You can only have one account and are not allowed to register with multiple accounts. If you have lost your log-in details, you must contact us first before opening a new account.
You can only use our services if you have not been restricted by HelperChoice from registering an account and contacting other users.

Obligations

You have to provide accurate, correct and real information in all content you create (including your ad, profile and private messages) and keep it updated. You are fully responsible for any of the disclosed information. Do not disclose any information that you do not have the right to disclose. If there are any problems, we will reserve the right to sue.
You must have ownership and authority of usage over the image you submit. No obscene, offensive, or adult images will be accepted. Also, we do not accept any images with children in it, regardless of whether or not they are your own. Any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, or otherwise violating any law will be deleted. If you submit an image that is rejected, you will have the opportunity to provide an alternative unless your account is suspended. Until you submit a new picture, your profile or ad will not be shown.
Your profile picture must include yourself. In case any other persons are in the image, they should have given their permission in writing. If you do not have permission of that person(s), you will be solely liable for any damages.
You have to use the services in a professional matter and uphold this regardless of who you are contacting. Acting dishonestly will lead to your services being suspended and no refund will be offered.
You cannot impersonate another person or create a false identity. You can also not create a profile for anyone else than yourself. If you want to help friends, relatives, family or anyone else, you can introduce the services to them, but they will have to create their own profiles.
You are obliged to keep your own information safe. Keep your username confidential, do not share passwords and take precautions to keep them safe. HelperChoice is not liable for any loss of personal information.
You cannot share an account or profile. Any account can only be managed by one person and membership cannot be transferred to friends, family or whoever else. Each employer member, even after subscribing to Premium membership, is entitled to post only one job ad. In case a hire falls through, the employer can repost the same ad by subscribing to the services again.
You must read our Terms of Conditions and Privacy Policy and accept it before our services can be used.
You cannot use our services to “recruit clients” for your own business. The service can only be used by employers and helpers. If you create an account and subscribe to Premium Membership, you cannot request a refund if your messages have been flagged as dishonest or spams and your account is suspended as a result.
Employment agencies are not allowed to create helper nor employer accounts. If an employment agency creates such accounts, paying or not, we keep the possibility to block this account without notice and without refund.
You cannot market any goods, services or anything else in your private messages, your ad or profile page. We will take immediate action if we find that this obligation is violated.
You cannot use our services to send spam or unsolicited communication. You cannot ask any client to make a payment for any services. HelperChoice reserves the right to suspend your services or reduce your user privileges without any refund.
You shall not request, wire or send money to other parties before reception of all mandatory documents. In case of monetary dispute with other users, HelperChoice shall not be held responsible.
You cannot copy any information from others through any means including the use of various technological tools. If you are found to be selling any data or using it in your database, HelperChoice will reserve the right to sue.
You cannot impersonate to be HelperChoice staff or related to HelperChoice in any other way unless you are by valid contract. Violation of this obligation will lead to legal action on behalf of HelperChoice.
You cannot interfere with the operation of HelperChoice. Whether this is done by placing an unreasonable load on the website, or by sending messages containing viruses, worms, or any other harmful measures.
You shall not violate the intellectual property or other rights of HelperChoice, including, using the word “HelperChoice” or our logos in any capacity unless given explicit written permission by HelperChoice’s founder.
Employers and helper members should inform HelperChoice after they have successfully found a match.

Rights

All payments made by employers are not refundable except for special cases, which are agreed and approved on a case-by-case basis by HelperChoice staff. Members cannot request HelperChoice to repay them more than the amount of the payments they made.
HelperChoice may change, suspend or end any service or change and modify prices at our discretion. The prices of our services are subject to terms solely determined by HelperChoice. A refund or return will not be catered to.
HelperChoice will not provide a copy of any content or information regardless of whether it is provided by you or others.
Members only, whether paying or unpaying, will be liable for uploading or giving any inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, offensive or illegal content.
When using third party apps or sites, HelperChoice does not take any responsibility for the legal terms or privacy policies. You will agree to the user agreements of their services explicitly.
HelperChoice reserves the right to limit your use of services, such as the number of messages you can send and the number of phone numbers requested if deemed necessary. You may request HelperChoice to increase your messaging or requesting rights, but we will handle these case by case and do not guarantee any outcome.
HelperChoice may suspend, restrict or terminate your account if we find a breach or violation of any of our User Rights. In such case, we will not redeem any fee charged for the creation and the management of this account.
HelperChoice strives to partner in good faith with reliable and licensed employment agencies. However, we will not be held responsible for any risk that may occur. Please make your own decision whether visiting or not those employment agencies or websites advertised on our website. You bear any risk, damage and/or loss that may occur.
Agencies and partners are independent from us. It is the agency or partner’s responsibility to make sure their communication with you complies with local regulations. If you decide to subscribe to a package with them, HelperChoice is not responsible for any outcome. You must sign a contract with the agency and communicate with them in case of disagreement.
Offers and discounts involving third parties such as partners or agencies advertised on the website or mentioned by HelperChoice are not contractual and are subject to potential changes. HelperChoice does not take responsibility to guarantee nor check the accuracy of the offer or discount mentioned. Members shall check the exact terms and conditions of each discount and offer directly with the relevant third party. Any fee paid for third party offerings will not be refunded, irrespective of the discussion between members and third parties, and HelperChoice will not enter any dispute between the member and the third party. We will strive and try our best to make sure the information disclosed is reliable.
Employer members who added optional requirements to their ad, may receive messages from other members about those requirements. HelperChoice will not be responsible for this, but if needed will assist with changing messaging settings, as it deems appropriate.
Helper members may receive messages from other members about details in their profiles or be called by employers. HelperChoice will not be responsible for any content of messages or phone calls, but if needed will assist with changing messaging and phone number settings, as it deems appropriate.
Helper members can send messages to all employer members, but understand that only premium employer members will be able to read and reply to their messages. In case messages contain contact details or other inappropriate information, HelperChoice may remove them without notice.
HelperChoice reserves the right to change the content of our website at any time without notice.
HelperChoice users agree us to display certain information they provide on the website for recruitment purpose. All members have the right to request access to the data they have submitted through several channels available to them such as email, phone or through Facebook.
All members have the right to edit their online information at any time by logging in into their account.
All members have the right to raise questions and supply information through suitable means such as email, phone or through Facebook.
All members are entitled to enquire whether HelperChoice holds any of their personal data, and to request a copy of such personal data held. If it is found that the data contained therein is inaccurate, members have the right to request us to correct the record. In such case, we will accede to the access and correction requests within a statutory period of 40 days. Should we fail to process the request within the period specified, we will provide a reply and state its reasons within 40 days.
Members who wish to make data access requests may download the Data Access Request Form (OPS003) from the Privacy Commissioner's Office and send us the completed form. As permitted by the Ordinance, HelperChoice will be entitled to charge a reasonable fee to comply with the data access request. Such fee shall not exceed the direct cost for complying with such requests.
HelperChoice aims to provide high quality services to all our members, paying or not. This includes having a complaints procedure which is transparent. All members have the right to complain should they feel dissatisfied with the standard of the service and /or feel that HelperChoice has not adhered to its existing policies.
The complaints and grievance procedure should be used to make a complaint in this instance which will be investigated without prejudice. HelperChoice’s grievance procedure sets out what will happen when someone wishes to make a complaint about HelperChoice and how it will be dealt with.
All complaints will be dealt with sensitively.
A complaint can be made verbally or in writing. Where it is made verbally, the person complaining will be asked to put their complaint in writing.
A complaint can only be made by the person affected or by someone on their behalf.
The following stages should be followed in any instance where a complaint is made about a member of staff or about the service.
Stage 1
- Upon reception of the complaint, HelperChoice commits to send a written acknowledgement of the complaint within 2 working days. This will include information about the complaints procedure and any advice and assistance available.
- After acknowledgement of the complaint, HelperChoice will have a further 5 working days to investigate the complaint.
- The outcome of the complaint will be issued within 3 working days following the investigation. Any extension to this time will be made with the agreement of the person making the complaint. Where an extension is not agreed, we will make our report and recommendations on the information available to us.
- When investigating the complaint, we will consider whether there are grounds for upholding the complaint. These include the following: whether recognized standards of good practice were followed, whether decisions made and actions taken were consistent with HelperChoice’s existing policies and procedures
- A response will be made to the complainant. This will include the following:
  - A history of the complaint
  - Who was involved
  - Action taken to investigate the incident
  - A summary of findings
  - Whether the complaint is upheld/partially upheld/not upheld
  - Recommendations for further action if applicable
  - Information regarding the next stage of the procedure, if appropriate
- Where HelperChoice upholds the complaint, and regards it as serious, we will consider whether it is appropriate to address it with any staff member concerned. In this instance, the staff member is entitled to confidentiality and the outcome of any disciplinary action will not be disclosed to the complainant.
- The response to the complaint can be notified verbally in the first instance or in writing. Where it is made verbally, this should be followed up in writing.
- Where the complainant does not accept the findings or outcome of the investigation under Stage 1, they have a right to complain to the Director of HelperChoice.
Stage 2
- We will follow the steps outlined in Stage 1 in the investigation of the complaint under Stage 2.
- Where the complainant remains dissatisfied, they should be informed that they are entitled to seek independent advice.

Liability

HelperChoice is a website where employers and domestic helpers can connect and if needed employ the services of third party employment agencies. Therefore, we do not proceed any official paperwork. As such we do not handle any employment contract.
As a platform whose role is merely connecting potential employers to potential employees, we are doing our best to ensure that our members find the best matches possible. However, we do not guarantee that employers can find a match as the final decision remains theirs.
Employers, domestic helpers and agencies should ensure the strict respect of the relevant regulation with each other directly, as well as the negotiation of the domestic helper salary, the employment agency fee and any other charges incurred, in respect with the relevant local laws and regulations.
All users of the website are independent from us and we do not take any responsibility for your communication with other users and any liability arising from using our services.
Not all the information in the profiles has been verified as most of the information is provided by users. Furthermore, not all information in the advertisements has been verified. Partner agencies are asked to provide a legal license before signing a contract, but HelperChoice is not responsible in case the license is pulled or expired at a later point.
In case of reasonable doubt HelperChoice will seek clarification and further information from the concerned parties in the limit of the means available. HelperChoice shall not be held responsible for any wrongful information submitted by one of its users.
HelperChoice is not responsible for any safety issues occurring while using the services online or meeting users met on the platform offline. We advise all members to take necessary precautions for personal safety.
If you decide to use one of the employment agencies (also called partner agencies) listed on our website, we will not be responsible for any cost or damage. Ensure that you request all mandatory documents and that the agency has the appropriate license before entering an agreement with them. Any communication you have with them is between you and the third party and we will not be liable for any of its outcomes.
HelperChoice shall not be held responsible, in case of any damage or cost arising from using our website. Regardless of direct hire or using our partner agency, it is your responsibility to make sure your decisions and actions comply with local laws and regulations.
HelperChoice does not guarantee that our services will function without errors or interruption. We do not take any liability for problems related to these errors or interruptions.
We do not take responsibility and disclaim all representations of users in terms of fitness to work, accuracy of provided data and noninfringement.
HelperChoice shall not be liable to you or others for any special, consequential and punitive damages, incidental, indirect, loss of data, offensive or defamatory wordings.
In the unlikely event that we end up in a legal dispute, it shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, regardless of your geographical residential location or where you used our services.

Terminations

Following Section 56 of the Employment Ordinance law, deletion of user accounts will be permanent 12 months after the expiration of each accounting year only. As such we comply with the Data Protection Principles of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.
Returning members can log in using their old account information. After a standard period, profiles will be hidden from public view. Users may also do this on their own accord whenever they deem it necessary.
Failure to abide by any of our user obligations will result in account closure and banning from the website. We reserve the right to change these rules at any time.

Contact

If you want to contact us related to these terms, please contact us by email with detailed information on how we can assist you and we will get back to your query as soon we can.

Last revised on April 20, 2017