CLAIMS BY REPATRIATED FOREIGN WORKERS

Mr Simon S C Tay asked the Minister for Manpower what arrangements, if any, are there to investigate and, if legitimate, to pursue any claims by repatriated foreign workers for unpaid wages or other benefits due from Singaporean employers.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Employers are not allowed to repatriate their foreign workers who have outstanding salary claims. When a foreign worker files a wage claim with the Labour Relations Department, his employer is cautioned not to repatriate him before an amicable settlement is reached. If the employer repatriates the worker without settling the claim, he could be disqualified from applying for new work permits.

The Foreign Workers' Unit of the Ministry handles employment claims and complaints lodged by foreign workers. The service is provided free of charge. Complainants do not need the service of lawyers to pursue their claims. To increase awareness of the protection accorded by the Employment Act and procedure to file employment claims, leaflets in various foreign languages have been produced and distributed to foreign workers.

Since January 1998, the Unit has helped some 3,700 foreign workers who had lodged employment-related claims against their employers. Where an amicable settlement cannot be reached at the conciliation meetings, workers' claims which fall within the ambit of the Employment Act will be adjudicated by the Commissioner for Labour at the Labour Court.

If the worker is unable to file his claims in person with the Ministry against his employer, he could lodge a written claim with us from anywhere, including from his home country. The Ministry has been able to help them recover their unpaid wages. In 1998, the Ministry's Labour Relations Department helped 35 such workers.