COVID-19: MOM urges employers to help foreign workers do remittance during circuit breaker period
SINGAPORE — While foreign workers will continue to have access to remittance services during the month-long circuit breaker period, employers are encouraged to help their workers do the remittance on their behalf.
In a media release on Thursday (16 April), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that during this period, foreign workers have access to remittance services through avenues such as mobile remittance agents activated at certain dormitories or online remittance services.
However, some of them may require remittance options that are not available on-site at their dormitories or through online services, while others may also need help in remitting their salaries overseas.
MOM thus advises employers to check with their foreign workers on whether they need help to remit their salaries, either in part or in full, to an overseas bank account of their choice. If so, they can offer the workers the option of carrying out the remittance on their behalf.
Also, as the ministry had issued an advisory on 11 April requiring all salary payments to be made electronically during the circuit break period, some employers may be in the process of setting up the workers’ bank accounts for such electronic salary payments. As such, they may still need to pay their foreign workers’ salaries by cash for the current payment cycle.
These employers may also consider the option of helping their workers do the remittance, in order to avoid making a physical trip to the dormitories for the purposes of safe distancing. For subsequent payment cycles, employers should continue to pay salaries electronically directly to the workers’ bank accounts.
Written consent and record keeping
If employers are assisting foreign workers to remit their salaries overseas, they must obtain the foreign workers’ written consent (via text messages or email, for example) and also keep a record of the foreign workers’ remittance requests.
The request from the foreign worker must include details such as:
Worker’s full name, FIN, date of birth, nationality and address;
Worker’s specified amount of his/her salary to be remitted overseas;
Worker’s specified name and bank account details of intended recipient; and
Worker’s specified date or time period for the remittance transaction to take place.
The employers must verify all information collected from the worker against their own records, before processing the remittance request. For cumulative remittances above $500 in a single month, the employer must also submit a copy of the worker’s work permit for verification by the remittance service provider.
Employers may use any remittance service provider, as long as it is mutually agreed between the employer and the foreign worker. After each successful remittance transaction, they should immediately inform their foreign workers in writing, with proof of the remittance transaction.
They are also advised to make clear to their foreign workers that this is a temporary arrangement that will cease when the circuit breaker period ends and foreign workers are able to access their usual remittance service providers.
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