MOM refutes report on mistreatment of migrant workers
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has said a recently-released report on the treatment of Chinese migrant workers by a migrant workers support group did not portray the full picture of employment conditions here.
In the 32-page report, researchers from the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) cited unjust employment practices that Chinese migrant workers were seen to have been subjected to, including discrimination, inadequate policies and inconsistent enforcement of existing laws.
The HOME report also raised issues such as legislation, blacklisting, education and exploitative terms in contracts for migrant workers. Examples of these included recruitment agents who gave false information, the failure of employers to pay salaries on time, poor quality meals, poor living conditions and long working hours.
The MOM said, however, that it prosecutes employers whom it finds have not paid salaries to hire workers, and has so far charged 15 employers and individuals for incurring salary arrears, as well as for failing to provide proper accommodation for their foreign workers. It also said that some 33 were prosecuted last year.
It added that its regulations do not permit recruitment agencies to offer incentives to employers to entice the latter to hire foreign workers through the former, Today reported on Friday.
In addition, the ministry said that it is conducting orientation briefings for Chinese construction workers before they arrive in Singapore, through overseas testing centres approved by the Building and Construction Authority.
These will explain employment laws, terms, contracts and agency fees, over and above the In-Principle Approval (IPA) letters sent to foreign workers in their home countries, which detail their employment rights and places they can approach for assistance, apart from essential information such as monthly allowance, deductions and fees. The IPA letters are also forwarded to employers.
In its report, HOME also mentioned that migrant workers were afraid to lodge complaints about employer mistreatment, lest they be blacklisted by the government and repatriated to their home countries. It added that such fears were reasonable since the MOM's current blacklist method has not been made known.
"Workers do not have the opportunity to defend themselves against their employers' allegations since they would have been repatriated already," the report said.
The MOM responded in acknowledgement that there may be such cases, but assured workers that the ministry only prevents individuals from obtaining work passes when it is "factually certain that an employment-related infringement has been committed," reported the paper.
The ministry also said that it blacklists employers as well, should they breach employment laws and show themselves unsuitable to hire foreign workers.
"Sometimes contracts contain terms that are not in contravention of the Employment Act, but are nonetheless unreasonable,"the ministry said, urging foreign workers not to sign contracts with exploitative or oppressive employment terms and conditions.
