For the past four months, Noelyn Patricio Arzaga’s bedroom has been bigger than any provided by a previous employer – not that square metres are a consolation. The 40-year-old is staying at a church because she was fired last August after deciding to undergo chemotherapy for breast cancer, against her former employer’s wishes.
Noelyn Patricio Arzaga at the Fishers of Men International Christian Ministries, where she has been staying for over four months, on January 22, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Since then, she has been sleeping on a foldable mattress in the Yau Ma Tei building that houses the church. Every morning, she stashes her bedding away, making way for worship services or other activities the church has that day.
“I am hurt and distressed,” she told HKFP at the church on Tuesday. “I [have] slowly overcome the hardship, but sometimes… I get up very early in the morning and I cry. Because I [am] worried about my health, my children, my parents.”
Arzaga, who is from the Philippines and has been working in Hong Kong since 2013, was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer last March. Her doctor recommended chemotherapy, Arzaga said, but her employer, who she had been working for since September 2023, pressured her not to pursue the treatment.
Her employer, a single mother, reasoned that chemotherapy would likely leave Arzaga feeling fatigued, and she depended on the domestic worker to care for her toddler when she was at work. If Arzaga could not take care of the child, her employer said she would have to quit her job.
Noelyn Patricio Arzaga at the Fishers of Men International Christian Ministries, where she has been staying for over four months, on January 22, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Arzaga, a single mother of two teenagers and her family’s sole breadwinner, had a mastectomy on her right breast in June instead of chemotherapy, out of fear of losing her job. Even before the surgery, her cancer had developed to stage three.
After the surgery, the doctor said chemotherapy was still necessary. In August, Argaza informed her employer that she planned to receive chemotherapy. That night, her employer fired her and kicked Argaza out of her home.
“She knocked [on] my door, threw three striped bags on the floor and asked me to pack my things,” Arzaga said.
Arzaga stayed at her sister’s employer’s home for one night before finding lodging at the church.
“You can terminate your helper in a nice way. Talk to your helper and explain, then you send them out in the daytime,” Arzaga said. “Mine [was] in the middle of the night. If there’s no one [to] help me, then I sleep on the street? For me, it’s inhuman.”
Noelyn Patricio Arzaga’s pills for the side effects of her chemotherapy treatment. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
With the support of the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions (FADWU), Arzaga filed a complaint with the Labour Department for costs including salary for the days she worked while on sick leave. She said the case had been settled and that she had received compensation, but did not reveal how much. FADWU said it was “extremely little.”
Separately, Arzaga also submitted a complaint to the Equal Opportunities Committee (EOC), saying her employer had discriminated against her due to her illness, an offence under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance.
In response to HKFP, the EOC said it “must adhere to the principles of confidentiality and need-to-know basis when handling enquiries and complaints, and therefore will not disclose whether certain inquiries/complaints have been received or any related details.”
It added: “if an employer dismisses an employee on the ground of his/her disability, resulting in the employee being treated less favourably, it may constitute unlawful discrimination.”
Noelyn Patricio Arzaga at the Fishers of Men International Christian Ministries, where she has been staying for over four months, on January 22, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Under Hong Kong law, employers cannot fire their domestic workers while they are on sick leave. They are obliged to pay for an employee’s medical treatment and provide sufficient time to rest.
A ‘very unique’ case
According to FADWU, it receives around 10 reports every year from domestic workers who said they had been ill-treated by their employers after being diagnosed with an illness or suffering injuries that required surgery.
Last year, FADWU handled 15 cases including Arzaga’s, said the group’s organising secretary who preferred to be known as An An. Five of the domestic workers were fired. Others said they were not given food or had to use their own money for treatment, a violation of the standard employment contract for domestic workers which states employers “shall provide free medical treatment.”
Arzaga’s case was “very unique,” An An told HKFP. In most cases, the domestic workers fired after getting sick did not stay in Hong Kong and ”will just go home,” she said.
It is partly because they don’t know the laws, the labour rights advocate said. “Their employers just bought them a ticket and sent them home. They have no money to stay and receive the treatment, and they want to see their families.”
Noelyn Patricio Arzaga’s belongings in a back room at the Fishers of Men International Christian Ministries, where she has been staying for over four months, on January 22, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
In the event that a domestic worker is able to stay in Hong Kong, it is often because they have an ongoing claim, for example, with the EOC to allege discrimination. But initiating such procedures is hard and could take years, An An said, adding there were few precedents of domestic workers’ EOC complaints ending up in court. Often, workers who initiate a case drop it after receiving compensation through their Labour Department claims.
In an emailed reply to HKFP, the EOC said it had received 31 complaints lodged by foreign domestic workers under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance relating to termination between January 2022 and last December.
Catherine Leung, the head of employment at law firm Lewis Silkin’s Hong Kong office, said the chances of a domestic worker winning their claim depended on a number of factors.
“They face challenges such as [a] language barrier, fear of retaliation, and lack of familiarity with legal procedures… all of the above coupled with the anxiety and pressures of testifying in court can add to these challenges,” Leung said.
The workers also need to “literally survive” their case, she added.
The District Court in Wan Chai. Photo: Candice Chau/HKFP.
Last July, the District Court arrived at a verdict in a case involving domestic worker Joan Sarmiento Guting, whose contract was terminated by her employer after receiving a cervical cancer diagnosis. But Guting never saw her day in court; she died in 2018.
The judge ruled against Guting, saying her employer’s decision to terminate her contract was based on unsatisfactory work performance, after the employer provided WhatsApp messages as evidence during trial last year.
Guting had lodged a complaint to the EOC in May 2017 alleging she was discriminated against because of her cancer diagnosis, but the EOC discontinued the investigation five months later.
The District Court case stemmed from Guting’s Labour Tribunal proceedings for dismissal without valid reason, which she began in 2017, and a claim alleging discrimination that her friend filed on her behalf in 2019, after Guting’s death.
Loss of access to public hospitals
When domestic workers are fired, not only do they have to foot their own medical bills, they also see the cost of treatment skyrocket, as they only qualify for subsidised rates at public hospitals while in employment.
If, like Arzaga was when she began chemotherapy, domestic workers are not employed, they lose their eligibility for subsidised public health care and are handled as visitors.
Noelyn Patricio Arzaga at the Fishers of Men International Christian Ministries, where she has been staying for over four months, on January 22, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Arzaga told HKFP she paid the subsidised rate of HK$80 for her first chemotherapy treatment, which was two days after she was fired.
But subsequent treatments have cost over HK$5,000 each time – more than a domestic worker’s minimum monthly wage, which currently stands at HK$4,990. She needs six rounds of chemotherapy in total. A fundraising campaign launched by FADWU to help Arzaga pay for treatment had reached almost HK$200,000 as of Friday.
While people can apply to the Hospital Authority for fees to be waivered, Arzaga tried and was rejected, An An said.
In response to HKFP, the Hospital Authority said it would not normally waive charges for “non-eligible people” unless there are “exceptional circumstances with financial hardship.”
“For each application for waiving of medical charges, the HA will consider the circumstances of each patient and decide whether discretion shall be exercised in favour of waiving the medical charges and if discretion is exercised, whether it should be a full or partial waiver,” the authority said.
United Christian Hospital. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
An An said she hoped the government could extend subsidised health care to domestic workers after they are terminated.
“The case[s] we have [come across], they are not just here for one or two months. They have been working in Hong Kong and contributing to the Hong Kong economy for so many years,” she said.
“Why should their medical access be turned off just because they are fired by their employer?”
‘It could cause inconvenience’
Some, however, say that empathy for domestic workers diagnosed with serious illnesses should be extended to employers too.
“It could cause inconvenience,” said Thomas Chan, the chairperson of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies, said in Cantonese. “It could affect their working ability and job performance. Naturally, there would be worries. This can be understood.”
Chan said employers may prefer the domestic worker to return to their home country for treatment, potentially rehiring them after they recover.
He acknowledged that Hong Kong’s medical facilities could provide a higher quality of care than hospitals in the Philippines or Indonesia, where most of the domestic workers in the city come from.
Migrant domestic workers sit in front of a luxury fragrance advertisement in Hong Kong, on November 5, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
“But employers obviously are more concerned about the impact of the worker’s health condition on household work and the inconvenience to their family members’ daily lives, more than the effect of the treatment [on their domestic worker],” Chan said.
Lawmaker Doreen Kong said employers’ economic circumstances could also factor into their decisions.
“Some employers are grassroots families… They may not be able to shoulder [the medical fees],” Kong said.
She added that per requirements under the law, most employers purchased health insurance for their domestic workers, though whether serious illnesses such as cancer were covered depended on the plan.
A call for understanding
Arzaga, who is awaiting her fourth round of chemotherapy later this month, said she hopes her story can shine a spotlight on other domestic workers who are diagnosed with cancer and fired by their employers.
She said she understood her employer’s concerns about how her diagnosis and treatment might affect her childcare duties, adding that she had delayed her chemotherapy treatment because she did not want to be a burden. But when her condition did not improve, she thought she could reach a compromise to continue working for her employer while receiving chemotherapy.
Noelyn Patricio Arzaga showing the hair that falls out when she runs her fingers through it, a result of her chemotherapy treatment. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
“I believe they could accommodate me while doing my treatment. I know I am capable of doing my job still,” she told HKFP.
FADWU’ s An An said employers should consider the fact that, unless diagnosed with a terminal illness, domestic workers would likely recover. In the meantime, employers could reach an agreement with their employees, such as changing some job duties and relieving them of others to ensure the family is still cared for.
“[Employers should try to] make alternative arrangements for their employees… so the worker can keep their job while also receiving the treatment,” she said.
Making such adjustments was at the “heart” of the EOC’s Disability Discrimination Ordinance, An An said. The ordinance says employer should provide “reasonable accommodation” to their employers, which refers to modifications that would allow “an individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunity.”
“Setting the law aside, as a human being, you should help another human being. We are just asking employers to understand and think for the employees,” she added.
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