REGULATION OF EMPLOYMENT (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

2.50 p.m.

The Minister of State for Labour (Mr Sia Kah Hui): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Hon. Members are no doubt aware that the Regulation of Employment Act was enacted in 1966 to regulate the employment of foreign workers in the Republic. The objective was to control the flow of such workers into our country to ensure that their employment contributes to the social and economic development of our society. Under the Act, foreign workers, principally those from Malaysia whose monthly salaries are not more than $750, are required to apply for a work permit before they start work. The Work Permits Office has discovered certain inadequacies in the Act in nearly 10 years of its operation.

This Bill seeks to amend certain provisions of the Act with a view to overcoming these shortcomings. The Ministry has discovered that some work permit holders are working in occupations other than those specified in their respective work permits. The Work Permits Office has, for example, found work permit holders working as clerks when the permit has been issued to them to work as factory operators. Legally this is not an offence as section 8 of the present Act prohibits the employment of an employee or contract worker only if he does not have a work permit. This inadequacy in the Act reduces the effectiveness of our control of foreign workers in the Republic. Clause 2 of the Bill therefore seeks to amend section 8 of the present Act to prohibit any employer from engaging any person who has been issued with a work permit in any capacity other than in accordance with the conditions contained in the work permit.

Sir, the Regulation of Employment Act, as it now stands, does not cover self-employed occupations like insurance agents, canvassers, salesmen, commission agents and others. The employment of foreigners in these occupations has social and economic ramifications. The Ministry has found it necessary at times to regulate administratively foreigners taking up certain self-employed occupations. To enable the Ministry to have the power to bring such persons within the Regulation of Employment Act, clause 3 of the Bill seeks to amend section 8 to empower the Minister from time to time by Gazette notification to prohibit any non-citizen from engaging in any trade, occupation or other activity carried on for the purposes of gain unless he has obtained a work permit for that purpose.

The Work Permits Office has also found that some employers and employees has connived to furnish false information with a view to seeking approval for their applications for work permits. False details, for example, have been provided on types of job and experience and qualification of the applicants. The giving of such false information is not an offence under the present Act. This practice must be discouraged to enable us to have better control of the recruitment of foreign workers for work in Singapore. Clause 5 therefore seeks to amend section 14 of the Act to make it an offence for any person, whether employer or employee, to make a false statement in the application for a work permit.

Sir, the Ministry has also taken the opportunity to introduce two administrative measures to improve the operation of the Act. The first, contained in clause 4 of the Bill, seeks to amend section 11 of the Act to provide for the levy of a fee of $5 for the replacement of a lost, destroyed or defaced work permit. This will encourage proper custody of work permit cards. The other, contained in clause 6 of the Bill, seeks to introduce a new section empowering the Commissioner for Employment to compound any offence committed under the Act by accepting from the person reasonably suspected of committing an offence a sum not exceeding $100. The intention is to expedite the meting out of penalties to those who have infringed the law as well as eliminate the time-consuming process involved in preparing for prosecution in court especially in cases of minor offences.

Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.

Mr Cheong Yuen Chee (Toa Payoh): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to seek a point of clarification from the Minister of State.

Clause 2 of the Bill says that:

`No employer or contractor shall employ an employee or contract worker, as the case may he, otherwise than in accordance with the conditions contained in the work permit.'

Sir, what happens if an employer, who originally engages a worker as a factory hand, subsequently promotes the employee to a higher grade, say, a clerical post, because of his efficiency? It appears that there is no provision in this amendment Bill for appropriate endorsements on the work permit of the employee concerned.

Mr Sia Kah Hui: Mr Speaker, Sir, in that case a fresh application will have to be made, because the original work permit only allows the person to be employed as a factory operator. If he wants to work as a clerk, it is a different job entirely.

Mr Cheong Yuen Chee: Sir, I would like to seek further clarification. In that case the employer must first terminate the services of the employee before he can submit a fresh application.

Mr Sia Kah Hui: Sir, I would say that the employer should put in an application before promoting his employee.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill-[Mr Sia Kah Hui].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.