FOREIGN WORKERS

FOREIGN WORKERS: * * *

27.

Mr Ong Ah Heng:

Mr Ong Ah Heng asked the Minister for Manpower if he will give an update on the enforcement actions taken against work-permit holders in the construction and marine industries for being deployed as drivers to transport workers.

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Mr Ong Ah Heng asked the Minister for Manpower (a) if he will give an update on the problem of phantom workers; (b) how many companies have been investigated for having phantom local workers and how many foreign workers are brought in as a result of it; (c) how many foreign workers have been repatriated and how many have alternative jobs; and (d) whether the Ministry has identified the loopholes in the system to prevent further unscrupulous practices by employers.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: MOM has stepped up enforcement efforts on the use of phantom workers through island-wide on-site checks and intelligence operations. In addition, MOM has put in place measures to flag out unusual company profiles that may indicate the existence of phantom workers. These measures have proved successful in surfacing suspicious employers and practices that circumvent our controls.

Since January 2009, MOM has prosecuted 26 employers for falsely declaring the number of local workers employed so as to inflate their foreign worker entitlement. In

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addition to prosecution action, we also debar offending employers from hiring foreign workers for a period of time.

Even as we take action against these unscrupulous employers, MOM also helps the foreign workers who are affected. In instances where the foreign workers have outstanding employment issues, MOM will resolve these before facilitating their repatriation. In appropriate cases, MOM also facilitates the change of employment for the affected workers. Since January 2009, MOM has repatriated about 980 workers and facilitated more than 300 to find alternative employers here.

MOM will continue to crack down on errant employers who hire 'phantom' workers to inflate their foreign worker entitlement. MOM urges employers who hire 'phantom' workers to immediately stop doing so and employ genuine local workers or cancel the work permits of their existing foreign workers to ensure compliance with foreign worker quotas.

Enforcement is being stepped up on other fronts too, for example, the illegal deployment of foreign workers. From January to June 2009, 157 foreign workers were found to have been illegally deployed by their employers. This includes 21 construction workers and five marine workers who were deployed as drivers in contravention of work permit conditions. MOM will continue its enforcement efforts against errant employers.

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