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SINGAPORE: An annual average of 16 employers have been fined over the past three years for illegally deploying their foreign domestic workers, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a statement late Tuesday (September 8).
The ministry said it took action against an annual average of 155 employers during this period. Among these, 60 received warning notices and 80 received cautionary notices.
About 16 each year were issued with financial penalties ranging from S $ 3,300 to S $ 24,000, MOM said.
An advisory is issued when the illegal deployment “is not conclusively substantiated” and serves to remind employers of their legal obligations under the Employment of Foreign Labor Act and the Employment of Foreign Labor Regulations.
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A warning, which the ministry says is similar to a severe police warning, is issued when MOM establishes that the illegal deployment is rare or that it took place for a short period of time.
“The warning sends a strong message to employers that they must comply with the law or face stricter enforcement actions,” MOM said.
The ministry said it has a “severe view” of cases where foreign domestic workers are sent to engage in non-domestic work or to work in commercial premises, on a regular basis and for a long period of time.
It would be “especially egregious,” he said, if workers are overworked and not provided adequate rest.
Their employers can be fined up to S $ 10,000 per position and will also be barred from hiring foreign domestic workers, MOM said.
MOM’s statement came after Ms Parti Liyani, the Indonesian maid accused of stealing from her former employer, Changi Airport Group Chairman Liew Mun Leong, was acquitted of her charges.
Parti started working at Liew’s main house in 2007 and was laid off in 2016.
The case uncovered accounts that Ms. Parti was sent to work in the home and office of Mr. Liew’s son, in addition to her employer’s home, in violation of MOM regulations.
MOM said that upon concluding its investigations and after consulting with the Attorney General’s Office, it issued a warning against Ms. Liew and a warning against Mr. Karl Liew in May 2018.
No prior complaints were filed with the MOM against any of the parties involved, the ministry added.
550 CASES OF ANNUAL COMPLAINTS FOR ILLEGAL DEPLOYMENT
The ministry said that between 2017 and 2019, it received an average of 550 cases of complaints annually about the illegal deployment of foreign domestic workers by their employers or household members.
This represents 0.2 per cent of the more than 236,000 employers of foreign domestic workers in Singapore.
The ministry said that of these cases, 76 percent were reported by third parties, while 24 percent were reported by the workers themselves.
“A good number of foreign domestic workers (FDW) who alleged illegal deployment had left their employment when they reported the matter to MOM. Some of them requested help to return home with others asked to be allowed a job transfer,” MOM said. .
Authorities said each accusation is “treated seriously and examined.” But in most cases, when the ministry clarified more with the workers, it was learned that they had been sent with their positions, as children or the elderly, to close relatives to provide care for their positions.
This is allowed, MOM said, as long as workers agree to the arrangements, are not required to perform household chores for two families, and their well-being is still taken care of.
“To avoid misunderstandings or disputes, employers should establish a mutually agreeable work environment with their foreign domestic employees,” MOM said.
