S-PASS AND WORK PERMIT APPROVALS

S-PASS AND WORK PERMIT APPROVALS: 8.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for Manpower what are the criteria for approving S-Pass and Work Permit applications for jobs that do not traditionally come with paper qualifications such as cooks, cultural performers and trade workers.

The Minister for Manpower (Mr Gan Kim Yong): The S-Pass was introduced in 2004 to cater to companies' need for middle-level skilled manpower at the diploma and post-secondary levels. These jobs generally require post-secondary qualifications and include technicians in the IT and aerospace industries and skilled nurses in the healthcare industry.

MOM recognises that there are industries and occupations such as cooks, cultural performers and trade workers where the quality of a foreign worker may not be solely dependent on his educational qualifications. This is the reason why S-Pass applicants are assessed based on a combination of factors in addition to educational qualifications. These factors include salary, job type and relevant work experience. Such a system enables us to obtain a holistic assessment of an applicant’s skills and abilities. There is also an online S-Pass Self-Assessment Tool on the MOM website that allows

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employers to check the eligibility of their applicants.

Last year, as part of our efforts to raise the skills profile of the foreign workforce and thereby improve productivity, we announced that we would recalibrate the S-Pass criteria so that only the more experienced and qualified applicants would be eligible. Employers should take this into account when submitting S-Pass renewal or new S-Pass applications.

Those who cannot qualify for S-Pass can apply for a Work Permit instead, subject to the normal Work Permit conditions. We would also like to encourage employers to hire better-skilled Work Permit holders with either some academic or skills qualifications such as trade certifications for the construction sector, ITE’s Skills Evaluation Test or WDA's Workforce Skills Qualifications. Employers of such skilled foreign workers will enjoy lower levy rates and will benefit from the better quality of their foreign workforce.

We, therefore, encourage employers to bring in higher-skilled foreign workers, re-design jobs to achieve higher productivity and reduce dependency on lower-skilled foreign workers.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Thank you, Minister, for the answer. I have a couple of questions. Can the Minister update the House on the number of S-Pass and Work Permit applications that were rejected in the last two years as a result of a lack of paper qualifications for the jobs that were mentioned, such as chefs, cultural performers, and so forth?

The second point I want to make is this. I understand that there is a need by the Government to respond to the call by Singaporeans to contain the number of

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foreign workers and talents. But is there a way that we can allay the anxiety and stress faced by businesses who need staff such as cooks or cultural performers to survive in their business? I think the Minister will agree that if one is running an enterprise or a restaurant serving Thai cuisine, then it probably makes sense to employ a Thai chef, many of whom, I think, do not have diplomas or degrees. I would like the Minister to comment on that.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Sir, the rejection rate for the S-Pass and Work Permit applicants is not available. But we do see a wide variety of reasons – many of them do not have sufficient quotas; some of them may have the qualifications but do not have sufficient work experience. As I have explained, we have a matrix of factors. There is no minimum requirement per se , but we take a holistic approach in assessing the qualifications and the experience as well as salary and job description of the worker, so that we can make a holistic assessment. It is basically a summation of many factors. So, they will not fail basically on just one factor. Of course, there is a minimum salary requirement of $1,800; this is one single factor that could disqualify them.

As regards the second question on how I can allay the anxiety of employers and businesses who want to continue to employ foreign workers, including S-Pass holders, I think the ultimate answer is to encourage these employers to look for innovative and productive ways to re-design their jobs and business models so that they can depend less on foreign workers. Singaporeans can take on many of these jobs and, in fact, many of these jobs can do with fewer workers so that productivity of each worker can be improved. But there could be special cases that Ms Denise Phua might have mentioned. If there is a specific case that the Member has in mind and would like the Ministry to take a look, please feel

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free to forward it to me, and I would assess the situation on a case-by-case basis. By and large, I would encourage employers to focus on innovation and productivity so as to reduce the dependence on foreign labour.

Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar): Sir, I would like to ask the Minister about industries where there are non-conventional employer-employee arrangements, for example, freelancers who are quite prevalent in the performing and art industry. What are the options available for these people who want to seek work on a project basis and not with a single-employer arrangement?

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Sir, primarily, as we allow a foreign worker to come into Singapore, we would require an employer to be responsible for the stay and the work of that foreign worker. In the event that this particular foreign worker gets into difficulty, we would need to be able to hold a certain employer accountable and responsible for the well-being of this foreign worker. It will be very difficult for us to open the gate and allow foreign workers to come in without an employer to be responsible for them. I would encourage industries to explore different opportunities and approaches even if the work is for a short period of time. We do allow employers to apply for Work Permit for a short period of time and after that, once the project is finished, whether it is for three or four months, we can terminate the work pass. There will also be some exempt activities like getai and so on, if they satisfy certain criteria, we do allow cultural performers to enter and work for a short period of time for specific work pass-exempt activities.

Mr Speaker: Ms Phua, last question.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: I thank the Minister for the very comprehensive answer and I must also commend MOM for always being very even-handed in

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processing these applications whenever we need exemptions.

I want to ask if the Minister could make known the matrix that he spoke about just now so that it can be communicated to applicants, especially the small-time operators that I have spoken about. So that they, in turn, can assess their chances of getting the applications approved before they even submit them, and then make their own decisions with regard to their own business.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Sir, let me explain that the S-Pass matrix is a fairly complex one which includes many factors and it also varies from industry to industry. For example, the qualifications, trade certificates and so on will be quite industry-dependent. So, it will be better for an employer who would like to employ S-Pass holders to go to our website where there is a self-assessment tool. The employer can key in the background of his potential S-Pass worker and the self-assessment tool will then inform him whether this particular candidate is likely to qualify. Of course, this self-assessment tool is not 100% guaranteed because it is just a simplified version of our matrix, but it will help the employer to have at least a first-line assessment of the suitability of this person as an S-Pass candidate. And if the candidate passes this self-asessment test, the employer can then submit his name to MOM. But if this person fails the self-assessment test, then the chances of him obtaining an S-Pass will be very low. So, we encourage employers to use this tool to make a self-assessment of the quality of their S-Pass applicants to see whether they have a chance to qualify as S-Pass applicants.