Efforts to Educate and Protect Migrant Workers against Kickbacks

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how often does the Ministry or its agencies educate migrant workers on kickbacks; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider (i) increasing the frequency of such education and (ii) amending the law to strengthen protections for affected workers.

Dr Tan See Leng: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) leverages various touch points to regularly educate migrant workers on kickbacks and to encourage them to report such offences. These include the Settling-In-Programme which is mandatory for all first-time, non-Malaysian migrant workers in the construction, marine, process and manufacturing sectors, as well as through the FWMOMCare app, social media channels and partnerships with non-governmental organisations.

The collection of kickbacks is a serious offence. Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, offenders may face up to two years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $30,000, or both. To date, the Courts have imposed substantial fines of $10,000 to $15,000 per charge or imprisonment terms. On top of these penalties, the Courts may order offenders to surrender the monies received from the affected workers if no restitution has been made.

These measures have been effective in keeping the number of kickback cases low. Migrant workers can report kickbacks without fear of reprisal from their employers as MOM will facilitate a change of employment for those who wish to continue working in Singapore. We will continue to monitor the situation and review the penalties where necessary.