CLAIMS AGAINST EMPLOYERS FOR UNPAID WAGES

Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the number of claims lodged with the Ministry by non-unionised workers against employers for unpaid wages in 2001 and 2002; (b) what is the number of claims where the claimants have not been able to fully recover their unpaid wages; and (c) what is the Ministry's response to cases where employers fail to comply with orders of the Labour Court to make payment and what further recourse is available to the claimants in such cases.

The Minister for Manpower (Dr Lee Boon Yang): Mr Speaker, Sir, last year, a total of 12,705 non-unionised workers, including foreign workers, sought the assistance of the Ministry's Labour Relations Department to resolve their employment claims. There were 12,203 claims by non-unionised workers in the year 2001. In 2002, 11,918, or 94%, of the claims were successfully resolved through conciliation at the Ministry. The majority of these claims were over unpaid wages. The balance of 787 claims which could not be settled through conciliation were adjudicated by the Commissioner for Labour.

Of the 787 workers, 664 of them were awarded payments by the Commissioner for Labour, while the claims of the remaining 123 workers, or about 1%, were struck off or dismissed as the workers failed to turn up for inquiry by the Commissioner for Labour or were found to have no valid claims.

Sir, of the 664 workers who were awarded payments, 167 workers were fully paid by their employers while 17 were given partial payment after orders had been issued. The remaining 480 workers did not receive payments from their employers within the stipulated period of 14 days. Of these 480 workers, 280 were from three large companies and the remaining 232 were from many small companies. Majority of these companies face severe financial difficulty or are insolvent already.

Sir, 301 of the 480 workers who were awarded payment by the Commissioner sought my Ministry's assistance to enforce the orders in the Subordinate Courts while the rest of 179 workers did not pursue their claims further.

Sir, in cases where the workers decided to enforce the orders in the Subordinate Courts, the Ministry will help them prepare the necessary documents. But whether the workers get any payment depends on whether the companies have any assets left for sale. The Member may wish to know that many of these employers are likely to be in severe financial difficulty and have no asset left for payment to the workers. Our officers would usually advise on the chance of recovering the claims but leave the decision to proceed in the Civil Courts to the workers. They would have to accept the reality that, when a company is broke, enforcement action may not result in any positive outcome. Fortunately, the number of workers in such a situation is relatively small, constituting some 3.7% of the total number of claimants who lodged their claims at the Ministry.