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SINGAPORE: A few months ago, Raj * life in Singapore turned upside down.
The 44-year-old migrant worker from India, who has worked here for more than 12 years, had been looking for work during the COVID-19 pandemic. He found an employment agent who posted an ad on Facebook for a position that promised a monthly salary of around S $ 1,000.
It turned out to be a scam.
The agent gave you a fraudulent approval (IPA) for a work permit. Meanwhile, he applied for a work permit without Raj’s required written authorization, and with a different employer than the one listed in the fake IPA. The salary was less than half of what was promised.
When Raj asked for the unauthorized work permit to be canceled, as he had found other work on his own in the meantime, the employment agent refused to do so. The agent insisted that Raj give him a large sum of money and take the job for a lower salary.
Raj filed a police report and a complaint with the Ministry of Labor (MOM).
But there was a limit to how long he could stay in Singapore while he waited for the case to be resolved, with the validity of his Special Pass coming to an end. The pass is issued to workers who became unemployed during the dormitory closings and could not be sent home during the lockdown period.
She sought the help of the migrant worker advocacy group ItsRainingRaincoats (IRR), which joined the international law firm Morrison & Foerster.
Raj’s case is one of several the firm has been involved in, on a pro bono basis.
While international firm attorneys here cannot provide legal advice on Singapore law or represent workers in court, they can help you understand your plight.
For Tessa Davis, one of the attorneys in Raj’s case, her job generally involves talking with workers to get the facts and schedule, seeking more information to help the worker’s case, documenting all the evidence if the case reaches the courts. , or speak and write to employers and employment agencies to resolve the worker’s situation.
“The idea is to try to get involved at an early stage … so it is not legal assistance that we are providing, but maybe to help tip the balance a little in their favor,” Davis told CNA.
Migrant workers work at a construction site in Singapore on August 20, 2020 (Photo: AFP / Roslan RAHMAN)
In Raj’s case, the lawyers spoke with the employment agent and the construction company, but neither party moved.
They also helped him print the necessary documents to explain his case to MOM.
Raj was told by a ministry official that he had to personally deliver a letter to the unauthorized employer confirming that he did not want the contract, so the lawyers drafted a resignation letter for him and got an office manager to drive him to their office. to print it.
The office manager accompanied him to the construction company office the next morning to drop off the letter, then they waited together for a few hours at the door to prove that the office was closed, before taking a photo as evidence that there was delivered the letter when he slid the signed notice under the company door.
After all that work, Raj was told that the scam app would be canceled. His permission to stay in Singapore would be extended and he could accept the new position with his new employer.
“I am… grateful to have solved the problem of the fake work permit and the opportunity to start over with a new employer. I will remember for a lifetime the help that Tessa and her team have given me, “Raj said.
His real name was not used in this report due to the sensitivity of his case.
Each case takes between 12 and 20 hours, Ms. Davis said, and mostly involves recovering wages from employers, unfair practices from employment agencies, or having employers write transfer letters that allow workers to change jobs. rather than repatriate them.
READ: Director of the company jailed for withholding the wages of foreign workers, forcing them to pay for renewals of work passes
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Most of these workers do not have a strong command of the English language or documentation, so it is often very difficult for them to tell what has happened in clear terms, Ms. Davis said.
This could affect the outcome if they had to explain their request to the representatives of the MOM or the parties they are facing.
Often times, the employer or employment agency pays for or delivers a transfer letter after the attorneys get involved, Ms. Davis said.
In cases that require formal legal advice, Ms. Davis works with local law firm TSMP Law Corporation, which has experience doing pro bono work for migrant worker rights groups such as HOME and TWC2.
“When you need a lawyer to provide legal advice to Singapore or to fight in court, that’s when we need to get caught,” said Stefanie Yuen-Thio, managing partner of TSMP.
WORK WITH NGO
More lawyers are getting involved in pro bono work.
It has been approximately three months since Ms. Davis became involved in cases through IRR. Since then, her team dealing with these cases has grown from three to nine.
He said several of Morrison & Foerster’s clients, each of which has their own internal legal teams, recently asked how they can get involved as well.
IRR founder Dipa Swaminathan reached out to Ms Davis in late May.
At the time, the organization was “inundated with requests” about worker complaints due to uncertainties about COVID-19 and bedroom closures, Ms. Davis said.
Workers from the same area gather for a daily morning briefing, while making sure to keep a safe distance from each other. (Photo: Cheryl Lin)
Ms. Swaminathan’s team handles the first level of cases that come in. About 90 percent of them are solved by IRR volunteers, some of whom are also attorneys.
There is no “silver bullet” for choosing which cases are sent to Ms. Davis’ team, Swaminathan said, but they tend to be more serious.
“The worker is a bit vulnerable. And some employers might think that workers do not have a circle of supporters around them to help the worker in times of distress. This makes it even easier to take advantage of the worker, ”said Ms. Swaminathan.
The simple fact that someone writes a clear and persuasive letter in formal language to the employer, presents the facts objectively and in detail to the authorities, or gives the worker the assurance that there are attorneys monitoring their situation is extremely helpful, he added. .
“I think it’s wonderful,” Ms. Swaminathan said, praising the lawyers’ work.
“People are stepping up to dedicate their time to their personal capacity to defend these workers…. giving voice to those who don’t have it. And when that voice comes from a legally trained person, it becomes a very powerful voice, “she added.
K&L attorneys Gates Straits Law, as well as legal advisors at Facebook and Singtel recently volunteered to help IRR in a personal capacity, he noted.
Ms Yuen-Thio said that it is rare for an international law firm in Singapore to be so deeply involved in pro bono work that it is more demanding on time, as the lawyer might have to “drop everything” to help a worker. you only have a few hours to resolve your problem.
“I’ve done a lot of pro bono work, but the emotional investment in reviewing contracts or serving on an NGO board is much less than when you have your family’s life, livelihood and well-being at stake in someone’s home,” she said. .
ACCESS TO JUSTICE
Ms. Davis rejected suggestions that attorneys who perform pro bono work take their role more lightly compared to paid work.
Lawyers working for free for foreign workers came to light recently after Anil Balchandani secured the exoneration of former domestic worker Parti Liyani. Ms. Parti was accused of stealing from her then employer, former Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong.
Liyani left with her lawyer Anil Balchandani outside the state courts on September 8, 2020 (Photo: Hanidah Amin)
Balchandani won accolades for his dedication and hard work as a defense attorney. The judge who pronounced the acquittal, Judge Chan Seng Onn, also congratulated him on his pro bono services.
READ: Parti Liyani files legal action to seek disciplinary proceedings against prosecutors in his case
“When a company engages in a case pro bono… they are 100 percent committed to the importance of pro bono and provide the same level of service that they would provide to a paying client,” said Ms. Davis.
“And in many cases, that assistance goes beyond that standard,” he added, referring to the office manager who spent hours sitting with Raj outside the construction company’s office to make sure he captured the necessary evidence.
“Someone’s life will be affected here, and therefore the attorneys who volunteer to do this, they want to get involved, they want to make a difference, so they are very happy to be involved in a case where I can do that, ”he added.
“The whole idea of ’equal access to justice’. I know it sounds grandiose, but it is what really motivates us: that someone runs the risk of being deprived of access to justice, just because of their socioeconomic status,” he said. Mrs. Davis.
“(These) are things that lawyers are supposed to be concerned about because, as lawyers, we can play a critical role in helping to provide that access to justice.”
