S’porean fined S$4,710 for not paying maids’ salaries

A 40-year-old Singaporean was fined $4,710 on Tuesday for failing to pay his two foreign domestic workers’ (FDW) salaries punctually, as required under the work permit conditions.

Toh E-Yeong was also charged for illegal employment as he had continued to employ his maids even when their permits were revoked due to levy defaults, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a press release.

“It is the responsibility of FDW employers to ensure prompt payment of their FDWs’ salaries every month. The work permit condition prescribes that the employer must pay the salary of his/her foreign employee not later than seven days after the last day of the salary period,” said the ministry.

MOM officers were alerted to this case in July last year after Toh’s two maids – Jocelyn and Joessel – complained to the ministry that they had not received their due salaries from Toh for many months.

Investigations by the ministry then revealed that Toh had not paid Jocelyn $1.264.50 for a period of nearly seven months from September 2010 to May 2011. He also failed to pay Joessel $1,098.30 for three months from February to May 2011.

In addition, Toh also defaulted on his monthly levy payments, which led to the revocation of the work permits of his two FDWs on 1 June 2011. However, he continued to hire the FDWs, who were without valid work permits, to work for him from 1 to 30 June 2011 at his residence.

For illegally employing the two FDWs, Toh violated the Section 5(1) of the EFMA and was charged accordingly.

Toh is the sixth FDW employer to be convicted this year. From 2009 to 2011, 28 employers have been convicted for breaching the work permit conditions of not paying their FDWs’ salaries promptly.