Prompt Payment of Salaries for Work Permit Holders

Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry would consider providing guidelines to employers of Work Permit holders on the issuance of payslips to their workers; and (b) how would the Ministry encourage these employers to pay their workers promptly.

The Minister of State for Manpower (BG [NS] Tan Chuan-Jin) (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, Sir, the failure to pay salaries promptly is an offence. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has put in place a range of measures to ensure that employers pay salaries to their Work Permit holders on time. The Employment Act requires employers to pay their employees within seven days after the end of the salary period. Failure to pay salaries promptly can result in prosecution. In 2011, 26 employers were convicted of Employment Act offences, of which 22 were for salary-related offences. Thirteen other salary arrears cases are currently before the courts. Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA), employers of non-Malaysian foreign workers and foreign domestic workers are also required to put up a $5,000 security bond that can be forfeited if salaries are not paid promptly.

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MOM has also put in place measures to ensure that foreign workers are kept informed of their salary components prior to entering Singapore. Since June 2011, employers have been required to declare the foreign worker's basic monthly salary, allowances and deductions when making their Work Permit applications. These declarations are clearly stated in the copy of the In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter that Work Permit holders are required to present to immigration officers in order to gain entry into Singapore. To further ensure that Work Permit holders understand their employment terms, we have provided IPA letters in native languages for foreign workers and will be doing so this year for foreign domestic workers as well.

After workers enter Singapore and begin employment, their employers should ensure that the workers are kept informed of their salary components by keeping a record of monthly salary payments, inclusive of over-time earnings and deductions, and providing workers access to these salary records. A survey recently conducted with more than 3,000 non-domestic Work Permit holders indicated that 91% of Work Permit holders were allowed to see a record of their salary payments and received a physical record of their salary payments.

MOM also works closely with our tripartite partners to conduct regular industry briefings and dialogues with employers to educate them on their responsibilities under our employment laws and to better understand their constraints and challenges. We have also disseminated collaterals to facilitate better understanding of our laws and employers' responsibilities. Lastly, we are also studying the possibility of requiring the issuance of payslips to workers.

Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade): Sir, I would like to find out more details. Of the cases that were mentioned by the Minister of State in his response, were they recurrent cases, in the sense that these were employers who were caught more than once for non-payment? Is the Ministry also looking at further fine-tuning the system such as using a demerit point system to identify these employers who are recalcitrant? And also for Work Permit holders who incur high hospital bills – beyond $20,000 for example – are there avenues to assist them?

BG [NS] Tan Chuan-Jin: Mr Speaker, in terms of the Employment Act prosecution statistics, we had in 2009, 29 offences; in 2010, there were 33 offences, inclusive of three cases prosecuted under EFMA; and in 2011, there were 26 offences, inclusive of one case under the EFMA. I do not have the figures for recurrent offences. That is something that we would look at. When we look at companies in terms of fulfilling their obligations to their employees, clearly, if employers are seen to be recalcitrant, measures will be taken. That is something that we will look into. With regard to tightening up these measures, we are looking at EFMA in the course of this year, especially in terms of enforcement. We are looking at how we can tighten it and how we can deal with companies that violate the rules and regulations.

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