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COVID: 11 companies fined for not ensuring employees work from home – MOM

Office workers seen during lunch hour in Singapore’s central business district on 2 June 2020. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)
Office workers seen during lunch hour in Singapore’s central business district on 2 June 2020. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE — Eleven companies were fined for failing to ensure work-from-home (WFH) as a default arrangement for employees who are able to do so, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Monday (24 May).

MOM said it inspected over 530 workplaces for breaches of Safe Management Measures (SMMs) from 8 to 21 May.

Under the latest advisory for SMMs at the workplace issued on 14 May, employers have to implement WFH as the default arrangement.

Singapore is under Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) from 16 May to 13 June with various SMMs in place amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“All employees whose roles can be performed from home must do so. Employers must provide the necessary facilities and direct their employees to work from home wherever possible,” MOM said.

Only employees who are unable to work from home due to the nature of their work can work on site.

All employers who carry out operations on site must declare their on-site manpower details at https://covid.gobusiness.gov.sg. They must declare this information by 28 May and update the information whenever there are significant changes.

“Enforcement actions will still be taken against the employer, if workers who are able to WFH are found to be working onsite, even if the total number of workers onsite are at or below the declared number of workers,” MOM said.

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